Research Areas

THE CENTER FOR NATURAL HAZARD AND DISASTER RESEARCH
DIRECTOR: PROFESSOR BAXTER E. VIEUX, Ph.D., P.E.

The focus of NHDR is to identify and characterize natural hazards, foster development of engineered systems that rely on measurement and detection, predictive models, and information systems. Better information means better decisions and therefore reduced losses due to severe weather, drought, and flooding. Our research is focused on reducing societal impacts of severe weather.
Through natural disaster reduction a disaster resilient society will result through three major principles:

1. Anticipate and assess risk, do not simply react to disasters
2. Focus on mitigation that builds resilience, and
3. Implement warning and information dissemination systems that allow society to bring its resilience into play.

Our vision is to identify technological solutions that would make society more resilient to natural hazards, thereby reducing or mitigating the disastrous impacts of drought and extreme temperatures on water resources, damaging winds, heavy precipitation, and flooding. If every community could withstand these forces of nature and sustain minimal damage, a safer and more sustainable place to live would result.

STEPS THAT CAN BE TAKEN

Integrated Warning Systems

Identify integrated meteorological and hydrological warning systems that are effective in alerting the population at risk. Advanced technology such as radar has proven useful in measuring rainfall over watersheds during intense or prolonged storms. Distributed hydrologic models can integrate the hydrometeorological data from radar, rain gauges, and stream gauges to make hydrologic predictions about flood levels before they happen. Information systems that rely on a range of media including the Internet can efficiently disseminate site-specific information. Integrating these components should take into account the hazard characteristics, population at risk, and the types of warnings needed to protect life and property.

Enhanced Building Design and Construction

Severe weather can take the form of straight-line and tornadic winds, hail, flooding, and lightning. Surviving structural damage due to severe weather in commercial and residential structures requires improved architectural planning and engineering design for severe-weather resistant structures. Incorporating wind resistant features into a new home is easier and more cost effective than retrofitting an existing home. The time to invest in a stronger-built home is when it is being built. Designing a home that can withstand higher wind speeds increases the home's resistance to tornado damage and reduces disruption to the homeowner’s routine. It can also help protect irreplaceable personal property. Additionally, using impact-resistant windows and doors helps make the home more resistant to theft, which provides added incentives to home buyers to choose homes that have special features designed to withstand the weather that is typical in their region such as Oklahoma.

Watershed Planning and Management

The physical characteristics of the basin, such as surface area, topography, geology, and land surface cover determine the nature of potential flooding and the basin's susceptibility to related hazards such as landslides and mudflows. The hydrological response of the basin can be impacted upon by changes in land use associated with urbanization, forestry, agriculture, drainage, or channel modifications. Climate records such as precipitation and evapotranspiration, and information on climatic variability and extreme events help to understand the frequency and source of flood hazards. Population centers are often adjacent to rivers making floodplain encroachment a reason for increases in flood losses. Identification of populations and economic activities at risk should be carried out to assist in developing sustainable development.

Better Building Practices

PROMOTING SAFER BUILDING PRACTICES