Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG)

Disaster Prevention and Management

ISSN: 0965-3562

Article publication date: 1 March 2000

56

Citation

(2000), "Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG)", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 9 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2000.07309aag.015

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2000, MCB UP Limited


Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG)

HIGH WINDS, TORNADOES, HURRICANES, ETC.

Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG)

http://www.dir.ucar.edu/esig/camille

The people at the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG) just keep grafting more and more interesting stuff on to their Web site. Their latest addition is an entire section entitled, "Thirty years after Hurricane Camille: lessons learned, lessons lost".

In August 1969, Camille battered the USA with unprecedented fury. It was the strongest storm to directly strike the USA in the twentieth century, and, after wreaking havoc along the Gulf Coast, its remnants caused flooding as far north as West Virginia. Camille caused more than 200 deaths and billions of dollars in damage. Indeed, the storm was called the greatest catastrophe ever to strike the USA and perhaps the most significant economic weather event in world history. Recognising that Camille is not just an historical footnote, but also a harbinger of disasters to come, ESIG has prepared a study and this Web site to inform interested persons (and those who should be interested) about the consequences of Camille, the increased risks that the US coast now faces, and actions that can be taken now to mitigate the next great hurricane. Besides the report, the Web site includes extensive bibliographies on both Camille and hurricanes in general, well-organised Web links, data on historical hurricane damage, and much other information. (If you doubt the power of these tropical storms, see the "Hurricane Camille image gallery".)

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