Natural hazards and impacts on Florida bridges and sign structures

The state of Florida is exposed to many natural hazards, including hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, landslides, and wildfires. With exposure to these hazards, many bridges and sign structures in Florida are vulnerable to damage during these hazard events. The state of Florida is studying the development of a riskbased decision making model, specifically for its state-maintained bridges, to handle the occurrence of such natural hazards. This paper first identifies which natural hazards are predominant in Florida, before developing prediction models (estimates of likelihoods) for the significant hazards. Historical data of hazard events were collected from Florida and national agencies, as well as from existing national models for hazards prediction, such as FEMA. Assuming the Poisson process for occurrence of natural events, predictions were estimated for annual occurrence and occurrence within 10 years. The estimated probability of event occurrence is related to the intensity of the hazard event. The consequences of the hazard events are also estimated based on historical data within Florida, and modeled in terms of agency and user costs.