7 U.S. universities team up to address hurricane resilience

HOUSTON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A research center focusing on preparing for and mitigating the damage and loss of lives from hurricanes and other severe storms has established, the University of Houston said Wednesday.

According to a news report from the university in Houston, Texas, the United States, seven participating universities launched the Hurricane Resilience Research Institute (HuRRI), aiming at sharing their expertise, from flood mitigation and hurricane modeling to public policy.

The institute includes universities located in states spanning the Gulf of Mexico: University of Houston, Rice University, University of Texas at Tyler, Texas Tech University, Louisiana State University, the University of Miami and the University of Florida.

Each institution brings unique research capabilities - in engineering, science, policy, education and technology - and significant institutional support that will be supplemented with external grants and contracts and cooperative agreements to launch projects in hurricane resilience.

Researchers from the seven institutions will be eligible to apply for the initial round of internal funding, which will require collaboration with at least one faculty member from another member institution.

Amr Elnashai, vice president for research and technology transfer at University of Houston, will lead the institute. He said the concept came together after hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria plowed through Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico during August and September, illustrating the need to look at severe storms and their aftermath in a different way.

Hanadi Rifai, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of civil and environmental engineering at University of Houston, will serve as director of HuRRI. Her work includes an ongoing study of the chemical and microbiological contamination in Houston waterways after Harvey.

Harvey blew ashore on Aug. 25 as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, displacing hundreds of thousands people and damaging some 200,000 houses in a path of destruction that stretches for more than 480 km. The Houston area was hit by severe flooding after receiving heavy rain. Enditem