AFTER helplessly witnessing the devastation wrought by Hurricane Mitch in Central America, three different American agencies are joining forces in an ambitious effort to forecast landslides and floods caused by hurricanes. The project has the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in the hurricane-prone Caribbean and also in countries such as Bangladesh and India, where floods are triggered by cyclones.
The initiative was announced by Randall Updike of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Joseph Golden of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the meeting in Denver. Updike recalls the horror he felt watching Hurricane Mitch move over the Caribbean in 1998. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥業鈥檓 watching a killer鈥�,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 felt so helpless.鈥�
For Updike, the worst part was knowing that it was possible to warn people of potential landslides and floods 鈥� the major causes of death and damage 鈥� but this was not happening because the agencies with the necessary knowledge were not linked together. 鈥淭hose warnings did not occur,鈥� Updike says. He says the NOAA was interested in the hurricane only when it was over the ocean, for instance. 鈥淎s soon as a water droplet touched the ground, they lost interest,鈥� says Updike.
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Now the NOAA, USGS and NASA are pooling their resources to set up a forecasting system that could warn people of possible floods and landslides in their area, 24 to 48 hours in advance. It involves tying together many existing technologies such as satellites that can track hurricanes and ambient moisture conditions, and real-time gauges on land that monitor streams, soil conditions and ground slippage and transmit their data via satellite, as well as extensive databases on the topography, vegetation cover and geology of the land. The system will be tested first in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
鈥淲e need to develop this system so that it is easily applicable to any country,鈥� says Updike. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just for America. It鈥檚 got to be something that is robust and reaches a village.鈥� To get the project rolling, the agencies hope to secure $10 million in funding from the US government.
