In the event of a tornado, hurricane, or severe tropical storm, the potential for damage to various buildings and civil structures is significant. This potential increases with various factors, such as the proximity of the storm event to the structure, age, construction quality, engineering, and materials used in construction.

For hurricanes and tropical storms, for example, structures along the coastline are at greater risk than structures built inland. The reason is there can be a substantial wind component on top of tidal surge and flooding that must be taken into consideration. For inland structures, the strength of the wind and tidal surges are less from hurricanes and tropical storms even though flooding can still result from heavy rainfalls. Tornadoes mostly impact inland structures in areas deemed to be at higher risk through analyzing historical weather patterns.

Loss Severity

After these occurrences, damage to structures can range from a total loss to no damage, with the exception that a concerned policyholder thinks his or her property may have sustained damage.

Buildings that have been demolished by such a catastrophic event may not leave clues from which the claims adjuster or engineer can determine what portion of the storm resulted from wind/water infiltration compared to flooding. Most of the structural forensic work are to structures that are around 50-percent damaged to no damage at all.