Isabel Storm Damage: University of Maryland Experts

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The following University of Maryland faculty members can comment on various topics related to damage from Isabel and similar storms.

Vulnerable Areas; Satellite Imaging of Storm Damage
Michael Kearney - associate professor, department of geography, University of Maryland
Expertise: wetlands and coastal geography; environmental impact of sea-level rise on coastal marshes, climate change; remote imaging (Kearney is skilled at presenting the material to a lay audience. Much of Kearney's research on coastal marshes and the impact of sea-level rise has focused on the Chesapeake Bay. His work has established the bay as one of the standard reference sites for marsh loss studies.)
Kearney says:
"Even a weakened Isabel, depending on how it tracks, could trigger extensive flooding in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, up through the peninsula. In Maryland, very low-lying areas, like those around the Kent Island narrows, are at a high risk of being severely flooded. The largest bay island communities on Tangier and Smith Island could be underwater from a combination of storm and waves on top of the surge. In a 1933 hurricane, pictures show most of Smith Island was underwater -- and that was when sea levels were over a foot lower.

Credentials: Kearney, with fellow university geologists Eric Kasischke and Guoqing Sun recently won a NASA award for over $415,000 to explore sea level rise on the Chesapeake Bay. The overall goal of the project is to further demonstrate the utility of satellite imagery for monitoring and assessing the impacts of sea level rise on the coastal regions of Chesapeake Bay. Kearney is author or co-author of numerous papers, chapters and books on coastal ecology and sea-level rise, including: Large scale decline of coastal marshes in Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay, USA, determined from Landsat imagery;Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union; "Ecology of the North American Coast, in Encyclopedia of Coastal Science, 2002; Sea Level Rise: History and Consequences, 2000.
Contact: 301 405 4057; mk11@umail.umd.edu: or Lee Tune, 301-405-4679 (office), 301-257-0073 (after-hours)
Web site: http://www.geog.umd.edu/people/Kearney.html

Hurricane Preparation & Recovery Resources
The University of Maryland Department of Agriculture, Maryland Cooperative Extension and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency created a Web site to provide the general public essential storm-related information resources. http://www.agnr.umd.edu/HotTopics/Hurricane.html

Building in High-Risk Areas -- Impact of Low-Cost Government Insurance
James R. Cohen - director of graduate studies and lecturer, urban studies and planning, University of Maryland
Expertise: land use planning; smart growth and growth management; zoning issues; housing; affordable housing
Cohen says:
"Premiums for private insurance in flood-prone areas can cost at least 10 times as much as the premiums that property owners pay for federally-subsidized insurance."

"There was an attempt by Congress in the early 1990s to deny federally-subsidized home insurance in shoreline area zones with the highest near-term risk of erosion. However, the bill never passed, in part due to lobbying by the real estate industry."

Credentials: associate editor of Housing Policy Debate; co-principal investigator for the Maryland University-Community Partnership Program, providing technical assistance to Maryland community-based housing organizations; recent reports analyzed affordable housing policies in Takoma Park and Perryville, Maryland; recently published materials include Abandoned Housing: Exploring Lessons from Baltimore, Maryland's Smart Growth: Using Incentives to Control Sprawl and Housing Affordability and Livability Issues in St. Mary's County Maryland.
Contact: (301) 405-6795 (office); jcohen@ursp.umd.edu; or Neil Tickner at 301-405-4622 (office); 301-257-0073 (after-hours)
Web site: http://www.arch.umd.edu/URSP/People/faculty/jcohenBio.html

Marie Howland - professor, urban studies and planning, University of Maryland
Expertise: urban and regional economic planning; economic development; employment
Howland says:
"The availability of federal and state flood, fire and earthquake insurance, in effect, subsidizes real estate in high-risk areas. Private insurance is out of reach for many households in these areas, and without insurance, households can't get mortgages."

Credentials: research includes the impact of land contamination on the redevelopment of inner city industrial sites and estimating the market for suburban business development; created a certificate program in urban planning in St. Petersburg, Russia; books include From Combines to Computers: Rural Development in the Information Age and Plant Closings and Worker Displacement; associate editor for the Economic Development Quarterly
Contact: 301- 405-6791 (office); mhowland@ursp.umd.edu; or Neil Tickner, 301-405-4622 (office); 301-357-0073 (after-hours)
Web site: http://www.arch.umd.edu/URSP/People/faculty/mhowlandBio.html

Note: For additional experts who can talk about family preparedness and agricultural impact, check the university's Newsdesk at ../experts/

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