OSU research lab experiments with storm surge and coastal housing

Doctorate students at Oregon State University have conducted an experiment to see how houses in coastal communities hold up to storm surge.

The experiment was held Aug. 6 at the Hinsdale Research Lab in Corvallis. It holds the largest tsunami basin in the world, which is capable of multidirectional wave generation.

Researchers from Japan, Korea, and Italy gathered in the audience to watch the demonstration.

Inside the basin were two brightly-painted one-third scale model houses. They were used to measure the difference in flooding impact on elevated and non-elevated structures.

One house sat about three feet higher than the other, up on stilts above the water. Over the course of three hours, researchers increased the height and force of the waves in the basin.

By the end of the experi