Windstorm Resilient Rural Housing: Lessons learned in Temerloh, Malaysia

Abstract

In 2019 alone, Temerloh district located in central Peninsular Malaysia has been hit by unpredictable wind storms in localised areas which damaged more than 185 rural homes. This research set out to assess the structural vulnerabilities of damaged rural houses to severe winds in Temerloh and lessons learned from windstorm damage through field surveys of damaged homes between March 2019-August 2019 and supplemented by district-level post-windstorm reconnaissance reports prepared by Malaysia Civil Defense Force (APM) and other information gathered from local government. Results indicate poor performance of structural and non-structural building components in resisting high wind loads due to inadequate design, under-strength of failed building materials and defective construction details. The results of this study could have important implications for government agencies, NGOs, builders, and engineers in assisting rural communities in reconstructing windproof resistant homes and planning for future windstorm risk management efforts specially catered to homeowners in Temerloh.Keywords: Rural housing; Windstorm; Resilience; Malaysia eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v4i12.1817

Factors Associated with Housing Damage Caused by an EF4 Tornado in Rural Areas of Funing, China

“…However, the results ( Figure 3 ) showed that the extent of damage to the villages did not correspond entirely to the tornado intensity of the location (i.e., areas with high tornado intensity did not necessarily have more severely damaged houses). It is also commonly believed that in rural areas where the quality of housing is generally not as good as in cities, areas with a high building density may have more severe damage to houses during a tornado [ 36 ]. However, the observed damage pattern showed that the building density was not related to the severity of damage to houses (i.e., villages with a high building density were not necessarily more severely damaged during the tornado).…”

“…In addition, kitchen houses, which are common in rural residential areas, significantly reduced the stability of the houses due to a height difference. Lam et al [ 36 ] analyzed the windstorm resilience of rural houses in the Temerloh district, Peninsular Malaysia. The study showed that high wind speed events caused severe damage to roof sheathings and non-structural components.…”