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This study presents a framework for global sensitivity analysis of wind uplift resistance in wood-frame residential structures. The vertical load path is modeled probabilistically as an assemblage of connections, with resistance distributions based on connection design capacity and cumulative dead load. An established sensitivity analysis approach is applied to the load path resistance model to evaluate the influence of the input parameter set on the system resistance, which is taken as the resistance of the weakest connection in series. A preliminary analysis illustrates the potential of the framework as a useful tool for assessing the relative importance of structural attributes for wind resistance, adaptable to any arbitrary vertical load path and parameter set. The framework also facilitates the evaluation of the relative vulnerability of different load path configurations from structure to structure. 

On September 1 2019, Hurricane Dorian made landfall in Elbow Cay in the Bahamas with sustained winds of 295 km/h and a central pressure of 910 mb, with subsequent landfalls in Marsh Harbour and Grand Bahama Island, where it stalled for two days. This paper presents field observations of Dorian’s coastal hazards and impacts on the built environment in these locales, collected by the Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance (StEER) Network. Data were collected using a mixed methodological approach: (1) surveying high-water marks and inundation extent, including an approximately 8 m high water mark in Marsh Harbour, (2) conducting surface-level forensic assessments of damage to 358 structures, and (3) rapidly imaging 475 km of routes using street-level panoramas. Field observations are complemented by a debris field analysis using high-resolution satellite imagery. Observed performance reiterates the potential for well-confined, elevated construction to perform well under major hurricanes, but with the need to codify such practices through the addition of storm surge design provisions and an increase in the design wind speeds in the Bahamas Building Code. This study further demonstrates the value of robust reconnaissance infrastructure for capturing perishable data following hurricanes and making such data rapidly available using publicly accessible platforms.