2018 Hurricane Michael
In 2018, Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida Panhandle as a Category 5 hurricane, causing widespread devastation in the region. The storm, the strongest hurricane to hit the continental United States in terms of wind speed since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, resulted in at least 74 deaths and caused an estimated $25 billion in damages.
In October and November of 2018, RAPID Facility teams deployed to Florida following Hurricane Michael to support Auburn University researchers in assessing the damage to low-rise, large-volume buildings. The team used numerous cameras (DJI Osmo, Insta360, Canon DSLR, and Flir), DJI Phantom and Matrice 210 drones, the Leica robotic total station (TS16I), and Maptek XR3 long-range scanner. While in Florida, the RAPID staff also collected data on neighborhoods in Mexico Beach where damage was extreme.
