Public invited to learn about storm prediction, planning

Public invited to learn about storm prediction, planning

RICE NEWS STAFF REPORTS

Progress in providing Gulf Coast residents with better predictions of hurricanes, tropical storms and flooding will be discussed at an Aug. 22 seminar hosted by SSPEED, the Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disaster Center, at Rice University.

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New systems are currently being developed to improve the lead time and accuracy of storm predictions and to deliver information in real time to emergency managers for better evacuations and sheltering in place. Leading scientists will discuss these developments at the seminar “Severe Storm Prediction and Evacuation for the Gulf Coast” at 5:30 p.m. in Duncan Hall, McMurtry Auditorium.

Speakers include Philip Bedient, the Herman Brown Professor of Engineering at Rice and one of the nation’s foremost experts on urban flooding; John Pardue, the Elizabeth Howell Steward Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Louisiana State University and director of the Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute; Brian Wolshon, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Louisiana State University and a nationally recognized leader in major emergency evacuation; and Hanadi Rifai, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at University of Houston, who is studying bacterial pollution of Houston bayous.

The seminar, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by The Houston Forum and Rice University’s Energy and Environmental Systems Institute.

Created in May, the SSPEED Center organizes universities, researchers, emergency managers and public and private entities to better address severe storms. It focuses on the area between New Orleans and Brownsville.

For more information, call 713-348-4700 or visit www.thehoustonforum.org.