A sudden severe storm destroyed a large tent structure connected to some concrete weight cubes, at near coast in Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture. High wind accompanied with the gust-front in the storm killed a man and injured nine persons. While the tent structure had an opening faced to sea, it was covered on remained walls with canvas. In this situation, when wind attacked from the open face, the tent would be easily lifted up, even though some weights might fairly resist to the lift caused by wind. This study describes the observation of damage to the tent structure and wind tunnel test results, which was carried out to quantify the wind load when the tent will be blown off in various situations of wall coverings.
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