Natural Disasters

The wisdom of attempting to resettle the Gulf region "is highly questionable," according to Alfred Price, associate professor and interim chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Buffalo.

A reconnaissance team from University at Buffalo's Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) will travel next week to Gulfport, Biloxi and other areas of Mississippi devastated by Hurricane Katrina to determine the specific causes behind the failures of large engineered structures, primarily commercial buildings.

Widespread devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina reminds Americans who are used to localized disasters being dealt with adequately that the U.S. is susceptible to catastrophes in which the ability to respond is itself severely damaged, says Ernest Sternberg, Ph.D., University at Buffalo professor of urban and regional planning.

A large percentage of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina and its catastrophic aftermath will suffer from Acute Stress Disorder, according to Nancy J. Smyth, Ph.D., LCSW, a University at Buffalo expert on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"Nasty social behavior" is very common following the first 48 hours of a disaster, according to University at Buffalo professor Charles Ebert, Ph.D., who teaches the course, "Disasters: analysis of natural and human-induced hazards."

Reports of widespread looting in New Orleans following the tragic flooding of the historic city sound less like actual criminal activity than desperation, according to a forensic psychologist at the University at Buffalo.

The world-renowned statue Hermes with the Infant Dionysos has been equipped with innovative seismic protective devices that will help the 7-foot-high marble statue of the Greek god withstand powerful earthquakes. The protective devices were custom made for the statue based on analysis and tests conducted at the University at Buffalo's earthquake engineering laboratory.

Improving how decision-makers respond in the minutes and hours that follow the first reports of a natural disaster like the recent tsunami or a manmade incident, such as a chemical accident or a terrorist attack, is the focus of a research project at the University at Buffalo's Center for Multisource Information Fusion.

Librarians at the University at Buffalo have put together a one-stop Web site to help the public keep abreast of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.

A new era in earthquake-engineering research was ushered in today with the grand opening of the National Science Foundation's George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Facility within the University at Buffalo Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering.