TO: Reporters and editors covering Hurricane Irene
FROM: Phil Sneiderman / 410-299-7462 cell / [email protected]Abby Lattes / 410-292-1749 office / 410-292-1749 cell / [email protected]
RE: Hurricane Irene: Johns Hopkins Engineering Experts Available
Predicting Power Outages When a hurricane is approaching, an electric power provider faces some big questions regarding how to allocate its resources: How many people will be without power? Where will the most outages take place? How many repair crews should it request from other areas? There is no crystal ball, but there is a computer model developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins and Texas A&M universities that can provide a basis for preparing to restore power after the storm. Seth Guikema, an assistant professor of geography and environmental engineering in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, says the goal is to restore power faster and save customers money.
Hurricane-related Damage and Coastal ErosionRobert A. Dalrymple, an internationally recognized expert on water waves and coastal engineering, and professor of civil engineering in the Whiting School, is available to discuss the effects of Hurricane Irene to the east coast. After Hurricane Katrina, Dalrymple was part of the first engineering team to enter New Orleans to determine the causes of the levee failures. He then chaired a National Research Council committee that examined the Army Corps of Engineers’ plans to provide hurricane protection to southern Louisiana. Dalrymple, chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Coastal Engineering Research Council and a past president of the Association of Coastal Engineers, has written numerous scholarly articles and textbook chapters on water wave mechanics and how powerful waves can damage harbor structures and buildings constructed near the shore.
###Johns Hopkins University news releases can be found on the World Wide Web at http://releases.jhu.edu/Information on automatic E-mail delivery of science and medical news releases is available at the same address.
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