Katrina in a historical climate context


August 31, 2010

By Randy Cerveny

Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina created a massive path of destruction throughout the Gulf States from Texas to Florida, hitting with particular vengeance in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. It killed more than 1,200 people and continues to have a lasting impact on the region. Without a doubt, it was a very bad hurricane. Download Full Image

However, as a historical climatologist working with the World Meteorological Organization in accurately assessing and verifying weather extremes, I have noticed, particularly among the media, a tendency to overdramatize the event. I had heard directly and through a number of my students, media reports of Katrina even still today being referred to as the “worst natural disaster of all time.” While without a doubt, Katrina was very bad, it also without question has hardly been the worst natural disaster of all time.

Even in the United States, we have experienced stronger and deadlier hurricanes during the course of our 200-plus years of history. In 1900, for example, an unnamed hurricane (we didn’t start naming these tropical cyclones until the 1950s) slammed into the defenseless island of Galveston, Texas. That hurricane has been made famous by the excellent book “Isaac’s Storm” – the telling of the trials and tribulations of one of the leading forecasters of the time, Isaac Cline. But the critical feature with "Isaac’s Storm" is that the hurricane killed perhaps as many as 8,000 people and led to the creation of a 17-foot storm wall on the seaward side of the island.

And in terms of strength, many others hurricanes must take precedent over Katrina. When Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005, Katrina ranked as a strong Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 130 mph. Thirty-six years earlier in 1969, in almost the same exact location, the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States was the storm Hurricane Camille, which created a massive 25 storm surge of flooding and had sustained winds of more than 155 mph – a rare Category 5 hurricane.

But those storms don’t compare to the death toll associated with the deadliest tropical cyclone of all time. In 1972, a tropical cyclone traveled directly northward through the Bay of Bengal and slammed into the vulnerable land that was at that time called East Pakistan on the eastern side of India. The storm’s massive flooding though the swampy exposed lowlands killed perhaps as many as 300,000 people. Afterwards, the nation of Pakistan which controlled the region was slow in getting relief supplies to the area and the inhabitants revolted creating the country of Bangladesh. This was an incident when a horrific natural disaster of a tropical cyclone actually created an entirely new country.

So as we look back and remember the great tragedies associated with Hurricane Katrina, let’s be sure to also place the undoubtedly deadly hurricane in its correct place in the global history of such massive storms.

Cerveny is an ASU President’s Professor and World Meterological Organization Rapporteur of Climate Extremes.

Britt Lewis

Communications Specialist, ASU Library

New collaborative provides entry point for tech industry


August 31, 2010

The College of Technology and Innovation at ASU's Polytechnic campus provides a variety of engagement opportunities for industry like research and technological solutions, sponsored instructional projects for student teams, and workforce development classes.  In addition, the college engages in outreach efforts for professional, educational and community organizations. 

To help manage all of those interactions and activities, the college recently established the Innovation & Technology Collaboratory (ITC). The collaboratory is the umbrella organization or gateway for industry and the community to readily access everything the college offers, from partner solutions and instructional projects to professional development and community engagement. Download Full Image

“As examples, companies have worked with our college through the Advanced Technology Innovation Center (ATIC) for small- to medium-enterprise technological solutions, the Office of Environmental Technology for training and certification, and the GlobalResolve initiative on social entrepreneurship in underdeveloped nations,” says Mitzi Montoya, executive dean for the college. 

“It can be confusing for people to know who to call when they want to work with the university. By organizing the college’s assets in ITC, we have made it easier for the community and industry to work with us, while also achieving efficiencies through streamlined processes, shared services and best practices,” says Montoya.

The collaboratory has many exciting plans for the future. Through operations like ATIC, the Laboratory for Algae Research and Biotechnology, a photo studio and the Print and Imaging Lab, the collaboratory will be able to provide consulting and proof of concept services, applied research and product prototypes.

Additional opportunities for faculty, students and industry to work together on projects that give students hands-on experience, a cornerstone of the college’s polytechnic vision, will be sought.

Several professional development programs for working adults will continue, but there are plans to expand existing offerings in several unique facilities like the altitude chamber and flight simulators, as well as develop programs in technological entrepreneurship and innovation management.

And plans to move beyond working with high school students and reach further back into the pipeline to include opportunities for K-8 students will also be explored.

While all of these efforts collectively enhance the core mission of the college to educate its students and have an impact on the community, the Innovation & Technology Collaboratory will aid in making it easier to do so.

“ITC allows us to meet the needs of industry and community partners, while advancing the education and scholarship goals of the college,” says Montoya. 

The collaboratory will be located in the Classroom Building at ASU Polytechnic and will have project work space and office space that will bring together students, faculty and ITC partners in a dynamic environment for interactive innovation and learning.

To learn more, call (480) 727-5433, email technology">mailto:technology@asu.edu">technology@asu.edu or visit http://technology.asu.edu.

Media">http://technology.asu.edu">http://technology.asu.edu.

... contact:
Chris Lambrakis
480/727-1173, 602/316-5616, lambrakis">mailto:lambrakis@asu.edu">lambrakis@asu.edu