SSPEED conference marks Ike anniversary

CONTACT: Mike Williams
PHONE: 713-348-6728
E-MAIL: mikewilliams@rice.edu

SSPEED conference marks Ike anniversary

Researchers and managers from public, private and academic institutions will meet for Rice University’s Center for Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) conference Sept. 13. The third annual conference will coincide with the anniversary of Hurricane Ike, the theme of this year’s meeting.

Who: Experts on storm surge, flood prediction, transportation systems, civil engineering, homeland security, flooding and storm mitigation, and structural and nonstructural strategies for protecting Galveston Bay. Bill Read, director of the National Hurricane Center, will provide the introduction via video.

What: The conference will focus on strategies to help Gulf Coast communities respond rapidly to stem the devastation caused by storm surges and inland flooding.

When: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sept. 13.

Where: BioScience Research Collaborative, Rice University, 6500 Main St., Houston.

Hurricane Ike, the third-costliest hurricane in U.S. history, slammed into Galveston in the early morning hours of Sept. 13. The conference will take place two years to the day after Ike’s Texas landfall.

For more information or to speak to Phil Bedient, director of Rice University’s SSPEED Center, contact Mike Williams at 713-348-6728 or mikewilliams@rice.edu.