Houston is hugely underprepared for a major hurricane, a new Rice University study found. Among the findings of Learning the Lessons of Hurricane Ike: Existing dikes and levees along the Houston Ship Channel were barely adequate during Hurricane Ike and would not protect all refineries from the storm surge of a more powerful hurricane or […]
Tag Archives | hazard identification
Gulf Spill Oil Coming to Atlantic?
Posted on June 3, 2010
What’s the real worst case scenario for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill? What it the oil keeps gushing all summer? The New York Times is reporting that a team of scientists has run the models, and that the results aren’t pretty. Nearly all of the simulations show oil heading into the Atlantic, and, perhaps, even […]
The 2010 Hurricane Season Begins with New Oil Spill Map
Posted on June 1, 2010
Today, of course, marks the start of the 2010 Hurricane Season. The good news: there don’t appear to be any storms yet. The bad news: the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill continues to spread without an end in site. Have a look at this interactive map that shows the extent of the oil each […]
County Promotes More Precise Storm Surge Maps
Posted on May 24, 2010
A Florida county has released new storm surge maps, and they’re giving locals a more precise idea of their risks of being hit by the storm surge associated with a hurricane. Tampa Bay Online has the whole story. As the article reports, Hillsborough County has based the maps on revised models from the National Hurricane […]
Oil Slick Nears Gulf Coast
Posted on April 29, 2010
This doesn’t look like it’s going to be pretty. NOAA’s models show the slick hitting the Louisiana coast late Thursday (reports are just coming in that it’s already arrived) and proceeding into Breton Sound and Chandeleur Sound on Saturday. The rest of the Gulf Coast appears to be at risk, too. You can see the […]
High Tech (and generally free) Tools for Disaster Preparation
Posted on April 15, 2010
Mashable has written a short article outlining some of the many ways that people can take advantage of the technology they already own (computers, smart-phones, etc) to help prepare themselves for natural disasters. Some of the ideas: Using Google My Maps to create evacuation maps (see video below for an intro on how to do […]
Eight Hurricanes, Fifteen Tropical Storms for 2010 Forecasters Say
Posted on April 7, 2010
The leading storm forecasting team at Colorado State University is predicting eight hurricanes and fifteen tropical storms for this year’s hurricane season. “While patterns may change before the start of the hurricane season, we believe current conditions warrant concern for an above-average season,” researcher William Gray said. Not good news. “U.S. forecaster sees increased 2010 […]
When Are My New Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) Going to be Ready?
Posted on April 2, 2010
FEMA has released a list of all communities scheduled to have new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) go active during 2010. WARNING: the list isn’t particularly reader-friendly. I’d recommend downloading it, then doing a search for the name of your community in the document. If it appears, look at the top of the table on […]
How Does Coastal Texas's Risk Compare to Our Neighbors?
Posted on March 29, 2010
Great interactive map from the NOAA Coastal Services Center quickly tells you for any state: Population growth of the Coastal Flood Hazard Area (CFA) Percentage of people living in the CFA who are: Living below the poverty line Over 65 years old What percentage of the state’s total land area is within the Coastal Flood […]
New FIRMs Tested in Massachusetts
Posted on March 22, 2010
The Boston Globe has an interesting article on how the updated National Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) did in last week’s floods there. In a word: well. This wasn’t good news to many who were sure the the updates, which had designated their properties as high flood risk, were wrong. Some were even fighting to […]