Florida state lawmakers Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez and Representative Alex Rizo joined President Jeanette M. Nuñez and other university leaders on Tuesday for the presentation of a $15 million check to expand FIU's Wall of Wind 2.0 facility (WOW 2.0), which will pave the for a future, world's-largest testbed that combines windstorm effects with storm surge.
The investment will help researchers explore the impacts of extreme winds on buildings and infrastructure and produce solutions that lead to stronger communities.
"We are deeply grateful to Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez, Representative Alex Rizo and the Florida Legislature for their $15 million investment in FIU's Wall of Wind 2.0 facility," Nuñez said.
"The funding will allow Wall of Wind 2.0 to advance research into the effects of 200-mph winds and demonstrate their effects on buildings, homes, critical infrastructure and the systems that are potentially impacted by catastrophic storms. The funding will also lay the foundation for a first-of-its-kind, full-scale research and testing facility designed to study not just extreme winds, but the combination of hazards that make major storms so destructive including wind, storm surge, waves and flooding. FIU is committed to being the leader in disaster research and testing."
For more than a decade, the Wall of Wind (WOW 1.0) at FIU's Extreme Events Institute has served as the nation's only university-based facility capable of replicating Category 5 hurricane winds. Building on the success and research capabilities of WOW 1.0, FIU developed WOW 2.0 at its Engineering Center, expanding its capabilities to produce winds of up to 200 mph.
The research, technology and lessons learned from WOW 1.0 and WOW 2.0 are now informing FIU's next generation of extreme-weather research: The Extreme Storm Simulator (ExtremeS). In 2022, the National Science Foundation awarded FIU and its partner institutions a grant to lead the design of ExtremeS, a future mega-research facility that will combine 200-mph winds with storm surge and waves reaching up to 16 feet.
"Florida must continue to lead the nation in preparing for the increasingly powerful storms that threaten our communities and economy. The expansion of FIU's Wall of Wind capabilities will provide researchers with an unprecedented opportunity to study extreme wind, storm surge, waves and flooding, helping us develop the knowledge and technology needed to protect lives, homes and businesses," Senator Rodriguez said.
Hurricanes rank among the most dangerous and costly natural hazards in the U.S. In 2024, the total costs for Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton combined exceeded $110 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Over the past two decades, FIU has focused on how to improve community resilience through research at WOW 1.0. Its findings have shaped building codes directly and driven the development of stronger, hurricane-tested products.
"FIU's Wall of Wind has established South Florida as a national leader in hurricane research and resilience. Investing in the next generation of this groundbreaking facility means investing in stronger communities, better building practices and a safer future for Floridians. I'm proud to support FIU and the transformative research taking place right here in our community," Representative Rizo said.
The investment underscores FIU's commitment to resilience research and translating knowledge into practical, life-saving solutions.
"We need research facilities to improve our knowledge of how natural and built infrastructure responds to hurricane forces. That knowledge leads to discovery, to innovation and, ultimately, to societal benefit," said Jack Puleo, dean of FIU's College of Engineering & Computing and associate vice president for strategic initiatives in coastal engineering and resilience.
Most recently, WOW 1.0 conducted one of the first-ever tests of a manufactured home under hurricane-force winds, showing that homes anchored in adherence to the most rigorous code held stable while those installed to lesser standards rolled over — data now headed to federal agencies and expected to update manufactured housing safety codes.
