Hurricanes, Wind and Storm Surge* Jennifer Collins, geography, teaches meteorology and climatology, specializes in hurricane science, and can speak on hurricane formation and intensification, predictions on the upcoming hurricane season, hurricanes and global warming, wind shear, sea surface temperatures, storm paths and hurricane landfall history.
*Robert Weisberg, professor, physical oceanography, College of Marine Science, studies ocean circulation and ocean-atmosphere interaction in the tropics, on continental shelves and in estuaries. Predicting hurricane storm surge is one of his areas of expertise. He is currently serving on the 14-member "Committee on New Orleans Regional Hurricane Protection Projects," a national panel formed by the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council. He directs a coastal ocean observing and modeling system for the west Florida continental shelf. Weisberg can comment on tropical ocean currents, sea surface temperature, energy, and relations to climate.
*Jyotika Virmani, research associate in the College of Marine Science, studies ocean-atmosphere interactions and ocean circulation in the tropics and on continental shelves. Her research includes hurricanes and climate change, hurricane frequency and intensity, and the recently active seasons. She can also discuss oceanic and atmospheric influences on storms, including sea surface temperatures and storm paths.
Socio-Economics of Disasters*Graham A. Tobin, geography, studies the social, economic and political aspects of natural disasters and has recently completed work on the hurricane hazard. The author of Natural Hazards, Tobin has examined hurricanes in Florida, floods in California, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Idaho, and volcanoes in Ecuador. He can also talk about risk areas and vulnerabilities to Hillsborough County.
Hurricanes and Kids * Psychology professor Judith B. Bryant can comment on the psychological effects of traumatic events, such as hurricanes, on children. She is a national expert on developmental psychology, with specific emphasis on language as a context for interpreting behaviors.
Evacuations and Traffic*Edward Mierzjewski, director of USF's Center for Urban Transportation Research, has studied traffic tie-ups and other transportation snafus associated with hurricane evacuations and can make suggestions for making evacuations smoother, especially in high traffic areas where roads are under construction.
* Carnot Nelson, psychology professor, studied evacuation behavior during Hurricane Elena and found many people who were not supposed to evacuate did anyway, and only 70 percent of mobile home dwellers evacuated. Nelson's research holds lessons learned for other hurricane evacuation situations.
Community Safety and Worker Fatigue * Robert Nesbit, program manager for USF's OSHA Training Institute Education Center, can provide the latest educational information on hurricane-related safety and health issues and worker fatigue. The Center, based at the College of Public Health, offers training in the hazards associated with cleaning up debris; temporary roof repairs; dealing with downed power lines, fallen trees and portable power generators; safe use of chainsaws; and heat stress. He also can speak to the issue of adequate training for public and private sector employees responsible for restoring utilities and removing debris left by storms.
Hurricanes and the Elderly*Amanda Smith, USF Suncoast Alzheimer's and Gerontology Center, can comment on how the stress of an impending natural disaster like a hurricane impacts the elderly, including those with memory disorders or other neuropsychiatric disorders. For those with dementia, news of a hurricane or its aftermath can have a particularly disorienting effect and aggravate behavioral problems, she says. Smith volunteered in Port Charlotte as part of an Area Agency on Aging assessment team following Hurricane Charley in August 2004.
*Lisa Brown, Department of Aging and Mental Health at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, conducts research on the mental health effects experienced by older adults as a result of hurricanes. She is an expert on resilience, assessment, intervention, and disaster mental health service use. She is knowledgeable about the impact of disaster on institutionalized, home-bound, and community-dwelling older adults. In 2005, Brown counseled hurricane Katrina evacuees as a volunteer with the American Red Cross. In 2004, she worked as a volunteer mental health clinician in a special needs shelter.
* Kathryn Hyer, School of Aging Studies, conducted research on the effects of the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes on the elderly and their long term care providers on issues evacuations, electrical outages and other service disruptions. She participated in a meeting of Gulf Coast State Long Term Care Facilities in their efforts to improve preparedness based on experience with the 2005 storms.
Disaster Preparedness* Thomas Mason, director of the USF Global Center for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Action at the College of Public Health, can comment on the environmental, public health and socio-economic impacts of natural disasters on populations in the Americas. The center oversees a variety of research on disaster preparedness and mitigation and is a source of current information for disaster planners and relief workers.
Post-Traumatic Stress After Hurricanes* Elizabeth Barnett, College of Public Health, studied how well DeSoto County children and their families recovered emotionally and psychologically from the experiences of Hurricane Charley, which devastated parts of Southwest Florida in August 2004. The study, conducted with DeSoto County's Health Department and School District, found that how children coped with the Hurricane Charley's aftermath was closely linked to their parents' levels of stress and a significant percentage of families reported post-traumatic stress symptoms eight months after the hurricane. The findings have implications for Hurricane Katrina survivors, since Desoto County is a rural, agricultural and largely blue-collar community similar to many Louisiana and Mississippi communities hit by Katrina.
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