In an instant, Florida's weather can change.

From heat-driven daily thunderstorms that turn severe, to tropical systems taking a turn to our coast, our often sun-filled skies can quickly become dark and potentially dangerous.

This was evident with Hurricane Matthew last year, which wiped away parts of scenic State Road A1A. The hurricanes of 2004 are also in recent memory, bringing down trees, ripping off roofs and demolishing entire buildings.

To better understand how buildings respond to these threats, Erik Salna, associate director of the Extreme Events Institute at Florida International University, and his team are working to uncover answers inside a giant, state of the art, warehouse in Miami.

"How can we now build better homes, businesses and schools,  build them stronger, build them better, for the next storm?" Salna said of the institute's "Wall of Wind."

By activating 12 fans capable of reaching Category 5 wind speeds of 157 mph, they can simulate a hurricane complete with wind-driven rain. Tiny sensors are placed on either models or real structures so experts can see how roofing components react to wind loads and stress. This information is then applied to building codes.


Areas of State Road A1A in Flagler Beach were badly damaged by Matthew in early October 2016. (News 13 file)

The motivation behind the facility was to replicate the type of winds that came from one of the costliest storms in U.S. history, Hurricane Andrew, whose winds destroyed so many structures in South Florida 25 years ago this August.

"We want what we're doing here to immediately get to the residents in Florida, Orlando and beyond," said Salna.

Even Walt Disney World benefits from the Wall of Wind.

"Their engineers, called Imagineers, they came here, early on, several years ago, to test some of the products and materials they were going to be using in that new park," Salna said.

This all comes after Florida's 11-year hurricane drought was broken last year. Hermine made a direct hit to the Big Bend area last September, and October brought Category 4 Matthew brushing dangerously coast to the Brevard County coastline. 

Dr. Ioannis Zisis, assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University said, “We have been working on Matthew before Matthew. What we do here is be prepared for the next big event.”

The goal is when that next storm heads for Florida, we're in a safer built environment, which will help save lives.


The motivation behind the 'Wall of Wind' at FIU was to replicate the type of winds from Hurricane Andrew. (News 13)