The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is used to rate hurricanes based on observed sustained wind speeds on a scale from 1 to 5. This scale estimates potential property damage resulting from wind damage, but does not take into account damage due to flooding. The wind engineering community uses discrete scales to categorize flood damage, however, these scales do not indicate damage resulting from both wind and flood hazards.
Thus, the Wind and Flood (WF) Damage Scale was developed. The advantage of creating such a damage rating system is it would allow damage assessments following a hurricane for an entire structure regardless of the source of the damage. The scale takes into account the number of stories, foundation type, approximate base floor elevation, calculated depth of flooding (calculated as surge elevation minus approximate base floor elevation), WF damage state from the video review (not including flood depth), and WF damage state including flood depth.
Engineers, Dr. Carol Friedland and Dr. Marc Levitan at Louisiana State University provide a brief summary of the application and purpose of the new Wind and Flood (WF) Damage Scale in their paper, Loss-Consistent Categorization of Hurricane Wind and Storm Surge Damage for Residential Structures.
