Protecting Houston from the Next Hurricane

To protect Houston and Galveston from future hurricanes, a Rice University-led team of experts recommends building a floodgate across the Houston Ship Channel adding new levees to protect densely populated areas on Galveston Island and the developed west side of Galveston Bay. The team also recommends creating a 130-mile-long coastal recreation area to sustainably use wetlands that act as a natural flood barrier.

The recommendations appear in a new report this month from Rice University's Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center. The report follows more than two years of research into lessons learned from Hurricane Ike, which made landfall at Galveston Island in September 2008. Ike caused 112 U.S. deaths and is the third-costliest storm in U.S. history, with damages estimated at $30 billion.

"Ike was a Category 2 storm, and Houston and Galveston stand to suffer greater losses from stronger storms, particularly if they hit south of Galveston Bay," said Phil Bedient, director of the SSPEED Center and Rice's Herman Brown Professor of Engineering. "As we studied this, we also met with leaders from industry and government to determine the most realistic and feasible way to protect lives and property from the next big storm."



Source: Rice University

Other Links:

Rice Study Wishlist: Houston Ship Channel Watergate, Galveston Bay Levees, 130-Mile Recreation Zone Along Coast

Rice University's Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center

Introduction

While I am new to Phoenix Architectural, I worked with their teams for some time when I was a project manager at Rice University over several years.

At Rice, I served as the owner representative for the design and construction of a new $132 million multi-building complex and managed several other projects including 75 federal grants for disaster assistance and hazard mitigation totaling $9.9 million. During this time, my experiences and research led me to develop a front end planning tool for sustainable projects, which was introduced at the International Conference on Construction Engineering and Project Management in Jeju, Korea, in 2009.

After a 5-year building expansion campaign and the recent recession, the grants I was writing and administering for Rice were adding up to more than their fiscal capital project budget cycles. So, I decided to see what I could do for other universities and institutions to help with their mitigation efforts.

What I have seen as I travel the Gulf Coast states now, is that clearly, there is an unmet need for disaster aid assistance in the distribution of these funds. This blog serves as a platform and forum for the design and construction management industry as it relates to emergency management. The goal is to improve your emergency management, maximize disaster aid from FEMA and HUD, and minimize repetitive losses and insurance premiums.