Current research at FIU is enabling testing of entire structures at full-scale, leading to performance-based design for hurricanes through direct correlation of wind speed with performance and damage levels. To perform hurricane mitigation research, the wind engineering team at the International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) and College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) at FIU has built a full-scale “Wall of Wind (WoW) facility”. The WoW is viewed as being potentially as effective for wind engineering as crash testing, which led to the development of air bags and other safety features, was for the automobile industry. Engineers liken the WoW to shake table testing, which led to performance-based earthquake engineering. https://cee.fiu.edu/research/facilities/wall-of-wind/

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is a component of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) located at FIU in Miami, Florida. The NHC mission is to save lives, mitigate property loss, and improve economic efficiency by issuing the best watches, warnings, forecasts, and analyses of hazardous tropical weather and by increasing understanding of these hazards. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutintro.shtml