Engineering Paradigms for Natural Hazards

Speaker: Ana P. Barros, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University

Engineering design for natural hazards stands on the premise that the magnitude of natural hazards can be estimated accurately for any desired level of risk. The premise in engineering planning is that catastrophic hazards can be anticipated objectively and that the probability of occurrence can be quantitatively established. However, inadequate observing systems, short historical records, climate variability, and cascading environmental changes over long periods of time and across large-spatial scales pose many challenges to risk characterization and valuation that cannot be addressed using standard methods and rigid regulations. What are the right measures of risk at local places and for the time-scales that matter? Effective communication of the science dimensions of risk is essential for understanding natural hazards in the context of built lifeline infrastructure and the natural environment.

Speaker: Leta F. Huntsinger, PE, Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Program Manager, TRM Service Bureau, Institute for Transportation Research and Education, North Carolina State University

Transportation systems play a critical role during natural disasters, providing evacuation routes, recovery routes, and support for economic renewal. Maintaining critical transportation lifelines during all stages of the event requires a comprehensive strategic plan that is regularly tested and modified to meet the needs of growing communities. Transportation professionals must use modeling tools and experiences, like those encountered with hurricanes Katrina and Rita, to forecast the efficacy of our plans for evacuation and recovery and make adjustments when needed.

Speaker: Karl G. Linden, Associate Professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Natural disasters have inherent uncertainty in their destruction, yet simple planning, foresight, and rapid response can make the difference between a small versus a catastrophic environmental disaster - on top of the human suffering. As engineers we have a responsibility to preserve and protect the environment for the betterment of humanity, but at what point is it justified to sacrifice our natural resources in the name of "clean-up"? Why are we even in the position to have to make that choice?

Speaker: Miguel Medina, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University

Urban development in hurricane-prone areas poses unique problems and hazards to the human population and its infrastructure. Engineers, hydrologists and urban planners are well-aware that urban drainage systems are usually designed for 10-year storms; that is, conduits are sized to pass the peak flow generated by a storm that returns once every 10 years on the average . The hurricane-generated rainfall amounts and intensities (rainfall rates) may be much higher than that of design storms and result in heavy flooding by creating surface runoff and infiltration events of such magnitudes that they overwhelm both the engineered and natural drainage systems. Furthermore, flooding episodes potentially carry harmful urban contaminants to receiving streams and lakes in a very short time: these shock loads may result in significant damage to the ecosystem. Powerful computer simulation tools are available to study all of these impacts a priori at different spatial scales, thus enabling the evaluation of control alternatives and their cost-effectiveness.

Special Guest : Joshua Sommer, Duke University, Director of the Mold Advocacy Prevention Education & Research coalition (www.MAPERcoalition.org).

Sommer is the Director of the Mold Advocacy Prevention Education & Research coalition (www.MAPERcoalition.org). He will talk about the health consequences of toxic mold, and the MAPER coalition's efforts to get a bill passed to create the equivalent of flood insurance for mold through FEMA, require the CDC and EPA to do research on the health effects of mold, require disclosure of mold problems in all structures as part of real estate sales, and to provide tax credits to hotels, apartment complexes and federal buildings operators to clean up mold problems.