Mitigation of Residential Wind Risk in South East Queensland

The region of coastal South East Queensland (SEQ) represents a large concentration of population, business activity and infrastructure that is important to the economy of Queensland and Australia. The region is also subject to severe storms that can generate damaging winds, particularly as a result of thunderstorm and tropical cyclone activity. This risk posed by severe wind is not well understood, nor are the optimal strategies for managing and potentially reducing this risk. The Severe Wind Hazard Assessment for South East Queensland (SWHA-SEQ) project has had the central objectives to gain an improved understanding of the current wind risk in this region and to develop actionable information that could inform future strategies to manage and reduce this risk. It has also included other related issues associated with future climate, strata title vulnerability, the implications of strong growth in the region and the identification of places of last resort. The project has had fifteen partners that have included local government, insurance, emergency management, State government more broadly and the research community. The two-year project commenced in October 2020 and was completed in December 2022. This paper presents a summary of part of the research undertaken along with the outcomes in the areas of wind hazard, residential exposure definition, house vulnerability assessment, risk and mitigation. Key findings are summarised and their implications in the areas of the spatial variability of risk across the region, mitigation of vulnerability at property level, and the effectiveness of prioritised retrofit in the region. Paper submitted to/presented as the 21st Australasian Wind Engineering Society Workshop (AWES21) 2023