Hurricane Ian is expected to make landfall near Tampa Bay, Fla., on Thursday as a Category 3 hurricane.
Because of sea-level rise and lack of preparedness, Tampa and other nearby Gulf Coast cities would be devastated by flooding if Ian makes a direct hit.
A.R. Siders, core faculty with the University of Delaware’s Disaster Research Center, is one of several experts who can comment on the coming storm. She is an expert on sea-level rise and managed retreat – the concept of planned community movement away from coastlines and flood-prone areas.
Other relevant experts from UD’s Disaster Research Center include:
Tricia Wachtendorf: Evacuation decision-making, disaster response and coordination, disaster relief (donations) and logistics, volunteer and emergent efforts, social vulnerability.
James Kendra: Disaster response, nursing homes and hospitals, volunteers, response coordination.
Jennifer Horney: Environmental impacts of disasters and potential public health impacts for chronic and infectious diseases.
Sarah DeYoung: Pets in emergencies, infant feeding in disasters and decision-making in hurricane evacuation.
Jennifer Trivedi: Challenges for people with disabilities during disaster, cultural issues and long-term recovery.
Joe Trainor: Post-hurricane housing decisions and insurance.
Rachel Davidson: Conducts research on natural disaster risk modeling and civil infrastructure systems. She looks at lifelines (e.g., electric power, water supply) and risk from a regional perspective during and after hurricanes and earthquakes.
