(SC Public Radio)

Dr. Susan Cutter knows about disasters.

  She is director of the University of South Carolina’s Hazards & Vulnerability Research Institute, and she has studied disaster preparedness, response. She has also headed teams that were on the ground after the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11 and after hurricane Katrina flooded much of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

The October 2015 floods in South Carolina offered her and her team the unique chance to be part of a disaster as it unfolded.

Cutter has noted the strong response of South Carolinians to their neighbors' needs both during and after the flood. And, she has also seen some survivors move rapidly to re-build damaged or destroyed buildings and homes. Concerned, Cutter wrote an editorial for The State newspaper, urging survivors to resist rebuilding too quickly, but, instead, to rebuild wisely, in order to reduce risk, and build resilience into reconstruction to protect against the next flood.

Susan Cutter joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the October floods, smart rebuilding and about how humans respond to disasters.

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