Hurricane Florence is due to make landfall this morning. Last night, in a special crossover episode with the DesignSafe Radio Podcast and Dan Zehner, we discuss the effects of prolonged wind, rain, and storm surge to structures along the coast and inland. Disaster weather expert Kyle Nelson explains the science behind the predictions for the storm and what it means in real terms.

Jamie Davis, the Podmedic and Sam Bradley discuss with Dan and Kyle the rain and wind effect of a slow-moving storm like Hurricane Florence on structural components of local buildings. Dan, who hosts the DesignSafe Radio Podcast for the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure institutions, brings his perspective from the scientists who test structural components against disaster conditions in the lab to make our structures safer.

We discuss including kids in disaster planning and preparations as a way to help them deal with anxiety. Dan and Kyle share this video resource about children and disasters. Lori Peek from CU-Boulder has an excellent FEMA Prep-talk on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7gMetv_9bQ.

When talking about storm surge and what it means in real terms, Kyle Nelson shares this excellent VR 3D video representing storm surge at 3, 6, and 9 foot levels on a typical residential street. View the video here https://twitter.com/RyanDavidsonWX/status/1040031346838720512.

Join the discussion in our Disaster Podcast Facebook Group now!

Paragon Brings “The Experience”

Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.