Summer brings hurricanes, and researchers at the Center will be modeling these storms throughout the season. The modeling team, led by Rick Luettich, will post results here: http://nc-cera.renci.org/.
The Center’s computer models are in use by the U.S. Coast Guard, FEMA and other emergency response agencies.
Each spring, CHC sponsors the ADCIRC Boot Camp, a three day intensive training workshop on the ADCIRC coastal circulation and storm surge model developed at UNC. The event was conceived to give new users the opportunity to rapidly develop the knowledge and skills required to become productive with ADCIRC and its associated technologies. This year’s [...]
The Build It Better Leadership Forum, May 16-17, in Charlotte, NC will bring together experts, including Executive Director of the Coastal Hazards Center Dr. Gavin Smith, to identify and discuss mitigation best practices, public policy efforts, and emerging research to make communities more resilient.
At the center’s annual meeting, Director Rick Luettich (second from left) and Captain Webster Balding (fourth from left) recognize team members Jason Fleming, Stan Ahalt, Brian Blanton, and Carola Kaiser, who shared in the Department of Homeland Security’s Impact Award. The center received the award for its ADCIRC storm surge computer modeling. ADCIRC models are in use by the U.S. Coast Guard, FEMA and other emergency response agencies.[...]
The most recent CRS Coordinator’s Manual, for use by local governments participating in the FEMA program, will include recommendations from the study “An Evaluation of Floodplain Management Planning Under the Community Rating System.” The study was conducted by researchers in the Department of Homeland Security Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence (CHC). Its recommendations included a [...]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration held a webinar about its Digital Coast program on November 14. The webinar was hosted by the Department of Homeland Security Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence, based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The presentation was led by Miki Schmidt, Division Chief of the Coastal Geospatial Services [...]
The damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy serves as a reminder of the importance of pursuing coastal hazards research. The costs of these disasters in the United States continues to grow, with 12 separate weather and climate disasters each causing more than $1 billion in damage last year.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence was presented with the DHS Impact Award on November 7. The Coastal Hazards Center received the award for its work with the ADCIRC storm surge and inundation model ahead of Hurricane Irene in 2011. ADCIRC is used to predict water heights and flooding in coastal [...]
Dr. Gavin Smith, Executive Director of the Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence, was interviewed this week by Jim Schwab of the American Planning Association’s Recover News blog. Smith was interviewed about the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on the eastern United States. Video of the interview is embedded below.
North Carolina State University professor Margery Overton’s team of student researchers hail from North Carolina, from Florida, and from Turkey. They include Ph.D. candidates, a Master’s student, and a rising senior who is considering graduate school. One has worked with Overton since she began working with the Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence; another only joined [...]
The DHS Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence at Jackson State University provided direct support to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) as they prepared for Hurricane Isaac. The Center installed the DHS-developed Rapid Estimates for Approaching Landfall (REAL) system at MEMA the week prior to Isaac’s landfall, then sent two experts to work with MEMA personnel on using the [...]
The New York Times included modeling from the Coastal Emergency Risks Assessment program and Dr. Rick Luettich, Director of the Coastal Hazards Center-Research Lead, in their coverage of Hurricane Isaac yesterday. The NYT infographic, based on CERA projections, can be found here. Additionally, Luettich and his ADCIRC prediction model were profiled by UNC News Services. [...]
Dr. Gavin Smith, Executive Director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence Research Lead, was part of a panel in a session titled “Contrasting Approaches to Climate Change and Hazards” at the American Planning Association’s 2012 National Planning Conference. The conference was held April 14-17, 2012, in Los Angeles. Below [...]
CHC Research Lead Director Rick Luettich was appointed by the Governor of Louisiana to the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Levee Authority – East. The Levee Authority oversees the hurricane protection system on the east side of the Mississippi River, including metropolitan New Orleans. Pictured below, Luettich (left) gets a levee tour.
For a former landscape architect educated in Wisconsin, post-disaster housing recovery in coastal areas might seem like a curious interest. Despite that, University of Houston-Clear Lake Assistant Professor of Geography Deanna Schmidt has spent this summer leading a team conducting research on that very subject. Schmidt says that her time living and working near the [...]
Academic prowess coupled with a determined curiosity is benefitting the research of Professor Mo Gabr.
Workshop Aims To Transition Technologies to Mitigate ‘On The Ground’ Threats For the first time, Homeland Security researchers from all over the nation are met in Jackson, Miss., to discuss how to rapidly transition their research to help local leaders be better prepared to prevent and/or mitigate acts of Mother Nature and deter terrorism and [...]
UNC Hazards Center and Coastal Hazards Center Research Associate Dylan Sandler presented a poster titled “Development of Adaptation Strategies for the North Carolina Sea Level Rise Impact Study” at the 2012 Annual Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop. The workshop was held July 17 and 18 in Boulder, Colo. Sandler, who holds a master’s degree [...]
Dr. Gavin Smith, Executive Director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence Research Lead, delivered a presentation on pre-disaster planning for post-disaster recovery on June 25 in Raleigh. Smith’s presentation gave examples of lessons learned from past disaster recovery efforts and strategies for long-term recovery. The presentation was part of [...]
Student interns for a research team led by Dr. Ashley Ross of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi have concluded fieldwork on county governments’ disaster resiliency in the Gulf Coast and produced a blog about their travels and research. The 12 interns joined Ross’s project in its second year. Last year, Ross and student researcher Melissa Beeler, [...]
CHC-R Executive Director Gavin Smith lent his experience on N.C.’s flooding to a recent article in Wall Street Journal online titled “Houses Razed After Floods.”
excerpts from RPI press release dated 6-7-12 | Read Rensselaer’s Press Release. Engineers and scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are working to develop powerful new decision-making and data visualization tools for emergency management. These tools aim to help law enforcement, health officials, water and electric utilities, and others to collaboratively and effectively respond to disasters. [...]
Coastal Hazards Center Research Lead’s Director Rick Luettich is an expert in storm surge modeling. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umnchBR3yZQ
Coastal Hazards Center (CHC) Education Lead at Jackson State University held its STEM Bowl 2012 at Lockheed Martin’s annual Mississippi IT Day held March 30 at the Jackson Convention Complex in Jackson, Miss. Deputy Director of the CHC Education Lead Thomas Richardson is principal investigator for the STEM Bowl competition. In its second year, high [...]
As Hurricane Irene made its way up the Eastern Seaboard last August, hugging the coast from North Carolina to New York before heading inland over New England, it left major flooding in its wake. The storm also allowed Carolina researchers to put years of computer model development to the test by forecasting the storm surge [...]
The inaugural Public Safety Management Poster Competition. It was held Friday, April 27, 2012, at The University of Houston. Seven posters were submitted to the competition, with prizes going to first place ($500), second place ($300), and third place ($200). Photos provided by Principal Investigator Dr. Gino Lim.
The 2012 ADCIRC Boot Camp was held April 25-27, 2012, in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, in a private venue two blocks from the NOAA facility. This is the third year of the Boot Camp, a three-day session held immediately after the ADCIRC Workshop. The ADCIRC Boot Camp content included SMS as well as ADCIRC training; [...]
On April 4, 2012, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate held an Innovation Day on the Hill, showcasing the work of six of its 12 Centers of Excellence (COE). COEs on site included the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and [...]
Adel Elsaid, a Ph.D. student at NC State who worked with PI Rudi Seracino, presented at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), Office of University Programs (OUP) hosted the Fifth Annual DHS University Summit held in March 2012. His paper titled, “Vibration Based Damage Detections of Scour in Coastal Bridges,” [...]
Gavin Smith, Executive Director of the Coastal Hazards Center Research Lead and Research Associate Professor, was interviewed by Vermont Public Radio April 20, 2012, about the lessons learned in North Carolina from Hurricane Irene about managing rivers. To view the story and listen to the audio, visit here.
On March 23, 2012, the Tougaloo College Disaster Coastal Studies interdisciplinary minor (DCS) held its second annual merit award competition. Students interns and competitors from across the discipline presented their work. As part of the Coastal Hazards Center Education Lead‘s projects, Director Robert W. Whalin and Deputy Director Tom Richardson were in attendance. Participating faculty [...]
Advisory Board Member Ellis Stanley was featured in the March/April 2012 edition of Carolina Alumni Review, the magazine for alumni of UNC-Chapel Hill. The article describes Stanley as the Master of Disasters and his appointment as the new chair of the Disasters Roundtable of the National Academy of Sciences.
Chapel Hill’s Creekside Elementary School’s Science Night was held March 14, 2012, with more than 250 people in attendance. Program Manager Anna Schwab participated on behalf of the Coastal Hazards Center and Josh Kastrinsky with Plan!t Now sought to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and inventors!
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the formation of the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council (HSAAC), comprised of prominent university presidents and academic leaders charged with advising the Secretary and senior leadership at the Department on several key issues. [...]
Justin Hienz is a contributor to Security Debrief is produced by Adfero Group and The George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute. He recently published a piece in Defense Media Network about the Department of Homeland Security’s Center of Excellence (CoE) initiative. […]
Dr. Rick Luettich, director of Coastal Hazards Center – Research Lead, visited the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area offices in Portsmouth, Va. Luettich, accompanied by Department of Homeland Security Office of University Program Chief, Dr. Matthew Clark, and Program Director, Eleanore Hajian, met with Vice Admiral Robert Parker, commander of the U.S.C.G. Atlantic Area to [...]
The failure to plan for disaster recovery results in a process of rebuilding that often presages the next disaster. It also limits the collective maximization of governmental, nonprofit, and private resources, including those resources that are available at the community level. As individuals, groups, communities, and organizations routinely struggle to recover from disasters, they are [...]
Kansas City Star report on destructive Joplin tornado published December 17, 2011.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Under Secretary Tara O’Toole visited the DHS Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence in Chapel Hill Thursday, October 20. The Coastal Hazards Center (CHC) is co-led by the The University of North Carolina (Research Lead) at UNC Chapel Hill and Jackson State University (Education Lead). [...]
Director of the CHC Research Lead and the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences Rick Luettich’s work using ADCIRC during Hurricane Irene was featured on unc.edu spotlight. This work is a collaboration with Brian Blanton of RENCI and Jason Fleming of Seahorse Coastal Consulting.
Following the completion of the major work for the Mississippi Emergency Management Association (MEMA) and the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) on the 2011 Mississippi River Flood, certificates of appreciation were given to those individuals who provided assistance. The Coastal Hazards Center Education Lead at Jackson State University provided major assistance through the provision of [...]
05/19/2011 09:46 AM BATON ROUGE – Patrick Hesp, R.J. Russell Professor in Geography and Anthropology in the College of Humanities & Social Sciences, has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright Fellowship for the fall of 2011. “I am both surprised and very happy to have been offered the award,” said Hesp. “I’d like to thank Dean [...]