I think I know what I want for my birthday!
From LiveScience:
Wind engineers have created the world’s largest portable hurricane simulator, which they will use to blow over vacant buildings with Katrina-strength winds to test how they withstand the fierce forces of a hurricane.[...]
The simulator was made by mounting eight 5-foot-tall industrial fans on a trailer. The fans are powered by four marine diesel engines that together produce 2,800 horsepower.
At full power, the fans turn at about 1,800 revolutions per minute, producing wind speeds of about 100 mph. A duct reduces the space available for the air from the fans to flow through, pumping up the speeds to a potential 130 mph—a Category-3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale (Hurricane Katrina was a Category-3 storm when it made landfall on the Gulf Coast).
Water jets on the system can be used to simulate the unrelenting 35-inch-per-hour rainfalls that can inundate structures during a hurricane.
There are some actual benefits to knowing the mechanics of how hurricanes damage buildings. Better protective devices can be designed, and/or better simulations run when building skyscrapers in storm-prone areas. Perhaps some of these lessons can be integrated into the rating and underwriting of large property insurance contracts.
However, my inner little boy can’t help but think that simulating a hurricane for destructive purposes would have to be as much fun as watching the implosion of a building.