UofSC experts: 2020 hurricane season
Posted on: May 13, 2020; Updated on: May 13, 2020
By Carol J.G. Ward, ward8@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-777-7549
The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1. Top researchers at the University of South Carolina are available to discuss multiple aspects of the 2020 hurricane season, including forecasting, disaster planning and historical perspectives. To coordinate an interview, contact the staff member listed with each expert entry.
Post-storm health hazards
What are the health threats after a hurricane? Jill Michels, managing director of the Palmetto Poison Center, can discuss problems that arise
during recovery, such as the risk of food-borne illness from eating spoiled food.
In addition, she can address carbon monoxide poisoning, which can occur when generators
are used improperly. The Palmetto Poison Center is staffed by toxicology experts who
provide free advice to S.C. residents about exposure to poisonous materials.
News contact: Tenell Felder, tenell@mailbox.sc.edu
Infrastructure, levee breaches, closure procedures and mobility
Nathan Huynh, an associate professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering,
has experience in the areas of evacuation, transportation network vulnerability and
resiliency, freight transportation and intermodal network design.
News contact: Katie Haon, khaon@cec.sc.edu, 803-576-7218
Hanif Chaudhry, associate dean in the College of Engineering and Computing, has studied the levee
breaches in New Orleans, the worst of which occurred at the 17th Street Canal. Chaudhry
just completed a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation that led an
international research effort on modeling of flood hazards due to levee breach and
dam failure.
News contact: Katie Haon, khaon@cec.sc.edu, 803-576-7218
Inthuorn Sasanakul, assistant professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering has
studied dam, levee, seawall, landslides, road embankments and bridge foundations after
2017 hurricanes which hit Florida (Irma) and Puerto Rico (Maria) and the 2015 historic
floods in S.C. She has expertise in geotechnical system response and soil characterization
subjected to natural hazards such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes.
News contact: Katie Haon, khaon@cec.sc.edu, 803-576-7218
Erfan Goharian, assistant professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering, has
experience in the areas of extreme climate events and their effects on water resources
systems, integrated water resources management, hydrology, and systems engineering.
News contact: Katie Haon, khaon@cec.sc.edu, 803-576-7218
Social media listening during natural disasters
What are South Carolinians saying before, during and after hurricanes hit? The university’s
Social Media Insights Lab uses artificial intelligence-powered software to study online conversations around
a variety of topics. Kaitlyn Park, Insights Lab manager, can provide analytics reports
on hurricanes and emergency response, including public sentiment, recurring topics
of conversation, social media influencers and more.
News contact: Rebekah Friedman, rebekahb@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-576-7270
Preparing medication for evacuation
Although it may be tempting to consolidate medicine into a single container during
an evacuation, keeping pills in their original bottle is important for medication
safety. Jill Michels, managing director of the Palmetto Poison Center, can discuss the risk of ingestion
by children from improperly contained medications as well as the need for health care
providers to have accurate information about a patient’s medications in case of extended
displacement.
News contact: Tenell Felder, tenell@mailbox.sc.edu
Impact of intense wind and precipitation
Jean Taylor Ellis, associate professor of geography with an affiliation with the School of the Earth,
Ocean and the Environment, investigates the effects of wind and waves on the coastal
environment. Ellis oversees the university’s Wind-Induced Nearshore Dynamics lab (WINDlab),
which has been surveying the dunes of South Carolina for four years. She is interested
in how the beaches, dunes, and surrounding communities are impacted by hurricanes.
Recently, Dr. Ellis was on South Carolina’s DHEC-OCRM’s Jurisdictional Line Stakeholder
Workgroup and contributed to the Governor’s Floodwater Commission Report. She can
address the impact of storms and humans on shorelines.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
Hurricanes' impact on oceans
Subra Bulusu is a professor of satellite oceanography and physical oceanography and head of the
Satellite Oceanography Laboratory in the School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment.
He can discuss a hurricane's impact on the oceans using remote-sensing techniques,
satellite oceanography and ocean modeling. He is also one of the advisory board members
of the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and
Medicine.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
Assessing storm surge and damage
Jerry Mitchell, director of the S.C. Geographic Alliance, can discuss the nature and dynamics of
storm surge and how the vulnerability of communities is determined. Mitchell, along
with other university geography researchers, mapped storm-surge inundation from Hurricane
Katrina along the Gulf Coast and assessed where residents were the most vulnerable.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
Recreating U.S. hurricane history
Cary Mock, professor of geography and a climatologist, has reconstructed a hurricane history
for South Carolina and other areas of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, as well as for
typhoons in the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii. From studying old diaries, 18th-
and 19th-century plantation records, newspapers, ship logbooks and early meteorological
records, he has created a perspective on hurricanes during the last several hundred
years, which, in turn, is leading to a better understanding of hurricane patterns
and the relationships between hurricanes and global climate change. Mock, who teaches
meteorology courses, also can discuss the meteorological characteristics, climate,
tracks and forecasting aspects of hurricanes. His research is funded by the National
Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
Preparedness and policy
Susan Cutter, Carolina Distinguished Professor of Geography, is considered one of the leading authorities in the world on emergency preparedness, response and recovery, and social vulnerability to manmade and natural disasters. She is frequently consulted by government agencies for her expertise in the roles of public agencies, such as FEMA and state emergency-preparedness offices, in handling disasters. As director of the university's Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute, one of the country's top facilities for integrating hazards research with geospatial information, Cutter has done extensive grant-funded research on hurricane evacuations and how people decide whether to evacuate.
Cutter and colleagues at the institute conducted a survey of evacuation behavior from
Hurricane Matthew in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Immediately after Hurricane
Katrina, she led a team of researchers who mapped storm-surge inundation along the
Gulf Coast and assessed where residents were the most vulnerable. Additionally, she
completed a 2011 survey of South Carolina hurricane evacuation behavior for the Army
Corps of Engineers and South Carolina Emergency Management Division.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
When natural disasters hit, how are emergency management agencies using social media
to keep the public informed and quell rumors? Shannon Bowen, a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, interviewed the
state’s top emergency managers about their social media policies, practices and use.
Bowen can discuss her findings regarding the challenges these agencies face during
floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters. She can also share recommendations
for agencies seeking to improve their disaster communication efforts.
News contact: Rebekah Friedman, rebekahb@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-576-7270
Impact of storms on coastal ecology, salt marshes and water quality
Dennis Allen is a research professor and resident director of the USC Baruch Marine Field Laboratory
on the coast near Georgetown, S.C. With more than 37 years of experience on the S.C.
coast, and professional interests in the ecology of fishes, shrimps, crabs, and less
familiar animals of salt marshes, estuaries and the coastal ocean, he is available
to discuss issues including threats and impacts of coastal storms. Allen was active
in studying the environmental impact of 1989's Hurricane Hugo.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
Jim Morris is a coastal marine scientist and professor and research associate with the Belle
W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences. He can address questions relating
to the effect of sea-level rise and storms on the coast and its ecology, especially
its salt marshes.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
James Pinckney is a marine ecologist, professor in the School of the Earth Ocean and Environment
and director of the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences near
Georgetown, S.C. He studies how marine ecosystems work and can discuss storms’ impact
on microalgae and estuarine systems.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
Economic impact of storms in tourist destinations
Rich Harrill and Drew Martin, professors in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, can offer insights
about the impact of natural disasters on tourism. Canceled vacation plans and lost
tourism dollars can have both short-term and lasting economic effects. Harrill and
Martin can discuss on how businesses in storm-threatened areas prepare for and recover
from storms, as well as how the possibility of damage affects business plans.
News contact: Allen Wallace, awallace@sc.edu, 803-777-5667
Scott Smith is widely recognized as a leading expert on theme parks, and has written and spoken
to media about the impact of storms on parks and other tourist destinations. He also
provides consulting to the hotel, resort and theme park industries.
News contact: Allen Wallace, awallace@sc.edu, 803-777-5667
Law and policies of adapting to climate impacts
Nathan Richardson, an assistant professor in the university's School of Law, specializes in environmental
and energy law, especially the law and policy of climate change. He can discuss local,
regional and national laws and policies aimed at adaptation to climate impacts, including
sea level rise and extreme weather events, and the role of various levels of government
and agencies in disaster response.
News contact: Rob Schaller, rschaller@sc.edu, 803-777-5611
Legal issues and ramifications surrounding hurricane damage
Josh Eagle, the Solomon Blatt Professor of Law in the university’s School of Law, specializes
in natural resources and coastal law and can discuss environmental-policy implications
and regulatory requirements related to hurricanes. Eagle, an authority on coastal
law, which encompasses land use and development, property and preservation of natural
resources, wrote the first textbook devoted to the subject of coastal law, released
in 2011.
News contact: Rob Schaller, rschaller@sc.edu, 803-777-5611
Susan Kuo, associate dean for diversity and inclusion and professor of law, studies disaster
law and policy, focusing especially on issues of vulnerability and social justice.
Her research includes consideration of inequalities that exacerbate vulnerabilities
to disaster harm and issues pertaining to access to resources in the wake of disaster.
News contact: Rob Schaller, rschaller@sc.edu, 803-777-5611
Risk management and insurance
Robert Hartwig is one of the nation’s leading authorities on insurance. Before joining the Darla
Moore School of Business as a finance professor in 2016, he was president of Insurance
Information Institute. Hartwig is frequently sought by national media for insights
and economic analysis in the insurance industry. He can discuss risk assessment, insurance
pricing and public policy issues related to insurance for coastal residents and businesses.
Specific topics include catastrophe modeling, catastrophe bonds, catastrophe reinsurance,
and the National Flood Insurance Program.
News contact: Leigh-Anne Lawrence, leigh-anne.lawrence@moore.sc.edu, 803-777-4306