Partners in mitigation: Towards a national wind engineering policy

Strong winds have caused, and can cause in the future, enormous loss of life, injury, destruction of property, and economic and social disruption in the United States. These could be substantially reduced through the development and implementation of effective wind hazards reduction measures, including (A) improved design and construction methods and practices, (B) land-use controls and redevelopment, (C) prediction techniques and early-warning systems, (D) coordinated emergency preparedness plans, and (E) public education and involvement programs. A National Wind Hazards Reduction Program, based on Federal, State, local, and private research, planning, decision-making, and contributions is being proposed to reduce the primary risks to life and property and secondary risks to the economy and social fabric from future wind storms. The objectives of such a program shall be to address the nation’s wind vulnerability through a federally coordinated plan to pursue necessary wind research and to apply this expanded knowledge base.