Recurrent storms and hurricanes along the gulf and atlantic coasts highlight the need for increased research, instrumentation, and testing to improve community resilience to highimpact weather events

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded Florida International University $1.031 million on October 1, 2026, under the Congressionally Identified Awards and Projects program (CFDA 11.469) to design and implement instrumentation and system upgrades for the Wall of Wind 2.0 wind tunnel facility.

FIU's Laboratory for Wind Engineering Research will expand its experimental capabilities for extreme climate scenario simulation and testing through comprehensive upgrades to WOW 2.0, a new large-scale wind tunnel facility capable of reaching wind speeds of 200 miles per hour. The facility will enable researchers to subject full-scale structures, building components, and systems to Category 5 hurricane-force wind conditions to improve understanding of wind effects on civil infrastructure and inform community resilience and risk management decisions related to weather and climate readiness.

The work addresses NOAA's Adaptation Sciences coastal resilience objectives and responds to the need for improved research, instrumentation, and testing capabilities to enhance community resilience to high-impact weather events along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Performance occurs in Miami, Florida, with a period of performance extending through September 30, 2028.

WOW 2.0 will function as a shared-use national experimental facility under the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure program of the National Science Foundation, enabling broader access for researchers investigating wind hazards and their mitigation.

Improving the resilience and recovery capabilities of the housing sector, businesses, and infrastructure are key to public belief in the viability of their communities and to keep people anchored to, and confident in, those communities. Scientific knowledge that informs decision making is of paramount importance regarding enhancing community resilience. Florida international university (FIU) is a global leader in wind engineering research and testing for civil engineering applications. The laboratory for wind engineering research (lwer) is home to the wall of wind (WOW) experimental facility (EF), a large wind tunnel capable of subjecting full-scale structures and building components and systems up to category 5 hurricane-force winds. The WOW EF, named as WOW 1.0, is designated as a shared-use, national experimental facility under the natural hazards engineering research infrastructure (nheri) program of the national science foundation (NSF). This national facility enables researchers to better understand wind effects on civil infrastructure systems and to prevent wind hazards from becoming community disasters. The wind engineering research test-bed and technology research program will include the expansion of lwers capabilities for extreme climate scenario simulation and testing through a comprehensive instrumentation and system upgrade specifically for the wall of wind 2.0 (WOW 2.0) system, a new wind tunnel facility which can reach windspeeds of 200 MPH. The wind engineering research test-bed and technology research program addresses the evolving information needs of decision makers to improve risk management related to weather and climate readiness strategies. This proposed initiative is specifically in line with noaas adaptation sciences (adsci) coastal resilience program which addresses the needs of decisionmakers at various levels dealing with complex weather and climate-related issues in coastal and marine environments. The program element is designed to support partnerships and engagement in the development and transfer of information to advance the resilience of coastal communities.