A Florida International University study in Houston has concluded that damage from "non-hurricane" events, such as a derecho wind storm, can cause more damage to tall buildings than hurricanes Conducted by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Extreme Events Institute at Florida International University,

Researchers focused on five tall buildings in downtown Houston that were designed to withstand category 4 hurricane winds of up to 67 meters per second. Despite the derecho winds reaching a top speed of 40 meters per second,

Less than one year after a derecho slammed Houston and caused significant damage to Downtown structures, a new study says buildings designed to withstand hurricane-force gusts are at a heightened risk in localized wind events.