Experts look at systems inspired by T.S. Allison

About 120 engineers, city planners, floodplain managers
and other experts got a crash course in Allison’s legacy
during a three-day conference at the Texas Medical Center
that was co-organized by Phil Bedient, the Herman Brown
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The conference,
titled “Mitigating Severe Weather Impacts in Urban
Areas,” featured sessions that gave a historical look
at Allison as well as programs dedicated to technological
advances and policy changes that could help mitigate a similar
tragedy in Houston in the future.

Allison, the most devastating tropical storm in the nation’s
history, dumped up to 30 inches of rain in 12 hours on parts
of Harris County last June, killing 22 and causing almost
$5 billion in damage. Much of the damage —costing about
$1.5 billion — occurred in the Texas Medical Center
(TMC).

In a conference keynote, Richard Wainerdi, TMC president
and chief executive officer, said the flood-alert system
in place at TMC and Rice did forewarn officials of the flooding,
but the TMC complex was ill-prepared for a flood of the
magnitude and duration of Allison.

Wainerdi outlined plans to “islandize” most buildings
at the medical center by installing waterproof doors in
basements and ground floors. By keeping floodwater out of
the building and upgrading the electrical systems at the
complex, Wainerdi said, the hospitals within the medical
center should be able to operate as self-sufficient islands
during future floods. He said the hospitals also are adopting
new procedures that will help staff better cope with flooding
that drags on for several days.

Bedient described the next-generation flood-alert system,
or FAS2, that Rice is developing for the Rice/TMC complex.
FAS2 will incorporate a new high-resolution form of NEXRAD
radar rainfall estimates that are approximately 16 times
more accurate than the estimates used in the existing flood-alert
system. To increase the lead times for alerts, Bedient’s
research team is incorporating a short-term weather forecasting
tool developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
that develops storm forecasts from NEXRAD data as events
are happening. The creation of FAS2 is funded by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, with matching funds from Rice
and the Texas Medical Center.