Details

Severe Storms – Impact & Disaster Response in Gulf Coast Communities

This conference will focus on the technical, emergency response, social, and economic issues associated with tropical storms and hurricanes in Gulf Coast communities. The conference will be broad in scope and inter-disciplinary in coverage and will assemble speakers from the public, private and academic sectors. A session on this year's major hurricanes will be included.

Conference participants will address, among other questions;

• How well are we equipped to predict severe storms and hurricanes and the inland flooding which often accompanies them?
• What engineering and design management concepts have proven effective in urban watershed management? How much protection is enough and how willing is the public to pay for it?
• What are the "at risk" populations and facilities along the Gulf Coast and how might the risks they face be reduced?
• Can we measure or otherwise evaluate the adequacy of our disaster response efforts, recognizing that each disaster event will invariably present challenges unique to it?
• How has the innovative use of advanced technology enhanced our planning efforts, and what might be done to make those tools even more effective?

Conference Costs
General Conference, March 15 – March 16
* $200/person

General Conference + Continuing Education on March 17
* $150/person + $50/course

Dr. Philip B. Bedient, Ph.D., P.E.

Philip Bedient is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University, and holds the Herman Brown Chair in Engineering. He has been studying urban hydrology for the past 30 years, including major floodplain studies, stormwater studies, water quality studies, and radar-based flood alert systems for Texas. Dr. Bedient is lead author of a textbook entitled "Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis", used in over 70 universities. http://fas2.rice.edu bedient@rice.edu

Dr. Baxter E. Vieux, Ph.D., P.E.

Baxter Vieux is a Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science at University of Oklahoma. As Director of the Center for Natural Hazard and Disaster Research, he oversees research efforts to mitigate severe weather impacts such as flooding. He is an expert in the development of engineering hydrologic applications using NEXRAD radar. His active research programs focus on distributed-parameter hydrologic modeling and advanced hydrologic applications of NEXRAD weather radar prototyped at the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), Norman OK. http://nhdr.ou.edu/ http://www.vieuxinc.com/ bvieux@ou.edu

Preliminary Conference Speakers Include:

• Dr. Philip Bedient, Herman Brown Professor of Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Rice University
• Dr. Virginia Van Sickle-Burkett, Associate Regional Chief Biologist, USGS National Wetlands Research Ctr.
• Dr. David Butler, Professor, University of Exeter, Exeter, England.
• Dr. Ivor van Heerden, Deputy Director, LSU Hurricane Center
• Burton Johnson, Harris County Flood Control District
• Dr. Barry Keim, Louisiana Office of State Climatology, LSU
• Dr. Stephen Klineberg, Professor of Sociology, Rice University.
• Dr. Francisco Olivera, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M
• Dr. John Pardue, Director Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute, LSU
• Charles Penland, Principal/Executive Director, WP Moore
• Bill Read, Meteorologist-In-Charge, Houston/Galveston National Weather Service Office
• Dr. Bob Stein, Dean of Social Sciences and Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science, Rice University
• Jim Thompson, President, Turner Collie & Braden
• Dr. Baxter Vieux, Presidential Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Oklahoma
• Andy Yung, Vice President, Chief Hydrologist, Dodson & Associates

Directions to Rice University

From George Bush Intercontinential Airport
From William P. Hobby Airport

Directions to Duncan Hall for the Wednesday and Thursday Conference

The symposium will be held in the McMurtry Auditorium, in Duncan Hall on the Rice University Campus. The map below shows Duncan Hall circled in Red and parking information.

Directions to Mechanical Laboratory for the Friday Short Courses

The Short Courses will be held in the Mechanical Laboratory Hall on the Rice University Campus. The map below shows Mechanical Laboratory circled in Blue and parking information.

Parking at Rice

For more information about parking, including rates, go to the Rice University Campus Maps page. This site has maps of campus, including parking and shuttle information.