Hurricane Milton is on a path towards Florida as it grows to a category five hurricane. The threatening storm surge is headed to the Tampa Bay area as evacuations are underway. According to the National Weather Center, it could come ashore as early as Wednesday and will continue to move across central Florida.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available for interviews. To speak with an expert, please contact GW Media Relations at gwmedia@gwu.edu.
Disaster Management & Response
Joseph Barbera, associate professor of engineering management and systems engineering, is a board-certified emergency physician with a 35-year history in developing emergency response systems and responding to local, national, and international emergencies and disasters. He has extensive experience participating in the management of response to earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes, such as Katrina in 2005. Through the GW Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management, he studies disaster response and recovery, risk management, and business continuity.
Public Health
Susan Anenberg is director of the GW Climate & Health Institute and associate professor of environmental and occupational health. Her research focuses on the health implications of air pollution and climate change. Recently her team published two studies finding links between health problems like asthma and exposure to polluted air.
Gaige Kerr is a senior research scientist and professorial lecturer in the department of environmental and occupational health at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. He researches ambient air pollution, and projects he has led span topics ranging from understanding the emission sources of pollution to assessing the health impacts experienced by populations, with a special emphasis on understanding associated ethnoracial and socioeconomic disparities.
Carlos Santos-Burgoa, is a professor of global health and environmental and occupational health at the GW Milken Institute School of Public. His interest is in toxic chemicals risk analysis, management and control of their population and climate impacts, and public health approaches to crises in epidemics and disasters in developing economies. He was the lead researcher on the landmark report GW researchers released after Hurricane Maria.
Elizabeth Andrade, is an assistant professor of prevention and community health at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. She was part of a team of GW researchers who conducted the most comprehensive study of the impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico. She can talk about power outages associated with hurricanes and how they can be particularly deadly for older adults and people who are managing a chronic condition.
Impacts on Air Travel
Liang “Larry” Yu, professor of hospitality management, is an expert on hospitality management, hospitality crisis management, and tourist satisfaction. He can address travel impacts and delays related to this storm and what travelers can do should they be impacted.
Jungho Suh, teaching assistant professor of management, is an expert on e evidence-based entrepreneurship, strategic human resource management, service management, diversity, equity, and inclusion, sustainability and ESG reporting in the travel industry, digital platforms in the service industry, and gastronomy tourism. He can address travel impacts and delays related to this storm and what travelers can do should they be impacted.
Housing, Insurance & Natural DisastersStephen O’Connor is a research professor of real estate at the GW School of Business and the chair of The Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis at GW. O’Connor has 30 plus years of professional real estate experience with a background in planning and public policy. O’Connor can discuss how climate change is impacting the insurance industry, how communities are adapting to disaster-prone areas (i.e., some towns are trying to change their zoning to encourage development in less-prone areas), and how other places are implementing buy-back strategies.
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