Scientists Set Up Hurricane ‘Test’ House

BALTIMORE — Scientists from Johns Hopkins University hope that Hurricane Bonnie tries to blow their house down on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

The experimental structure in Southern Shores has been wired with sensors to measure the stress that the walls, rafters and roof would have to undergo as the massive storm passed.

Johns Hopkins officials said Wednesday that they hoped the experiment would yield a wealth of new data on how low-lying beachfront structures react to heavy weather.

Part of a study funded by the National Science Foundation and Southern Shores, the research project was described as the most comprehensive effort of its kind.

The ultimate goal was to help insurers, developers and emergency management officials come up with new building standards for hurricane-prone areas to avoid the kind of devastation seen in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew killed dozens of people, destroyed more than 100,000 homes and caused $25 billion worth of damage across South Florida.