Events
2025
NSF Wildfire Mitigation Workshop
2024
2023
In-person Program in collaboration with Texas A&M University at Galveston
2022
In the News
2023
Extreme heat can be a death sentence in Texas prisons, September 28, 2023
Hurricane Idalia survivors can request disaster relief, but it’s not always easy to get | CNN Politics, September 1, 2023
Lahaina was expensive before the fire. Some worry rebuilding will price them out, August 26, 2023
Maui Wildfires: Extra Logistical Challenges Hinder Government’s Initial Response When Disasters Strike Islands – Texas A&M Today, August 11, 2023
Maui wildfires: Extra logistical challenges hinder government’s initial response when disasters strike islands, August 10, 2023
When disasters are deemed too small, rural Mississippi struggles to recover – The Vicksburg Post, August 1, 2023
With limited air conditioning in Missouri prisons, incarcerated people fear heat waves, July 28, 2023
‘It’s inhumane’: Advocates, families urge Texas leaders to put AC in prisons amid heat wave, July 19, 2023
Texas heat wave has inmates’ families worried about lack of air conditioning in state’s prisons, July 18, 2023
Texas had the chance to provide air conditioning in prisons. Senators didn’t care | Opinion, July 6, 2023
Inmates are dying in stifling Texas prisons, but the state seldom acknowledges heat as a cause of death, June 28, 2023
Brutal heat wave hitting Texas ‘going to expand’ to multiple U.S. states, National Weather Service says, June 26, 2023
‘Shrouded in heat’: Hopes for safe prison temperatures fade with end of Texas legislative session | Courthouse News Service, June 9, 2023
More than a third of Texas prisons don’t have air conditioning. A new bill would change that | KERA News, April 28, 2023
New AI-powered system uses images of stop signs to capture flooding data, April 20, 2023
Summer heat turns Texas prisons into death chambers, study says. Will state pay for AC?, April 11, 2023
How nonprofits get back on their feet while also playing a key role in local recovery from disasters | Milwaukee Independent, February 9, 2023
Housing and hurricanes: How communities cope after disaster, February 4, 2023
The need for speed: CDCB: Pre-planning hastens disaster funding, January 24, 2023
2022
Florida residents worry about housing costs after Hurricane Ian destruction. : NPR, December 21, 2022
Op-Ed: Local Nonprofits Often Fill The Void In Disaster Recovery, December 18, 2022
Local nonprofits play a key role in recovery from disasters – while also having to get back on their own feet, December 12, 2022
Rising seas swamp Black, Spanish and Indigenous history in St. Johns County | Jacksonville Today, December 2, 2022
Death Rates in Non-climate-Controlled Prisons Are Higher Than in Climate-controlled Institutions, November 7, 2022
Texas A&M-Led Effort Will Give Gulf Coast Communities Tools To Address Climate Hazards – India Education, November 3, 2022
Hurricane survivors face daunting task to rebuild, October 21, 2022
Why Disasters Like Ian Punish Affordable Housing Stock In Particular, October 17, 2022
In Texas, a New Study Will Determine Where Extreme Weather Hazards and Environmental Justice Collide, October 17, 2022
Comment: Pursuit of disaster aid a long and complex path, October 10, 2022
Nonprofits Play Pivotal Roles in Disaster Relief Before and After FEMA Aid Runs Out, October 6, 2022
Why Is Puerto Rico so Vulnerable to Blackouts?, September 21, 2022
Severe drought is to blame for extreme flooding in Texas, August 26, 2022
Scorching Summer Tests States’ Workplace Heat Rules, August 16 2022
How Houston has changed five years after Hurricane Harvey, August 2, 2022
New study details how extreme heat is affecting Texas prisons – Houston Public Media, August 1, 2022
Only 1 in 3 Texas prisons fully air-conditioned amid historic heat: Report, July 24, 2022
Report: Deadly heat remains concern at Texas prisons | AP News, July 14, 2022
Air-conditioning in TX prisons during 2023 Senate hearing, April 14, 2023
Every disaster is local: How to plan for climate emergencies, May 25, 2022
Wildfires Are Threatening Prisons. Who Will Save the People Inside?, February 12, 2022
In Texas, Prisons Without Air Conditioning Are Getting Hotter, February 12, 2022
Lessons from Lyons: Will Marshall fire victims rebuild or move on?, January 20, 2022
2021
New audit report shows Austin was unprepared in several areas for winter freeze, November 18, 2021
Most US states don’t have universal air conditioning in prisons. Climate change, heat waves are making it ‘torture’, Septemeber 12, 2022
The quest to find African American graves before they’re lost to climate crisis | US news | The Guardian, September 10, 2021
Above-average hurricane season may not translate to extreme local effects, July 3, 2021
“People Are Wiped Out”: Costs Pile Up as Hurricane Season Begins, June 23, 2021
Hazards Webinar Wednesdays – Basics for Businesses, May 26, 2021
College Station city staff complete training to better promote fair housing practices, April 29, 2021
The essential — and dangerous — work prisoners do, April 23, 2021
Tornado Warning: Survive Nature’s Wildest Winds, April 6, 2021
Ehsan Fereshtehnejad; Ioannis Gidaris, M.ASCE; Nathanael Rosenheim; Tori Tomiczek, M.ASCE; Jamie E. Padgett, M.ASCE; Daniel T. Cox, M.ASCE; Shannon Van Zandt; and Walter Gillis Peacock (2021) Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Coupled Natural-Physical-Social Systems: Cascading Impact of Hurricane-Induced Damages to Civil Infrastructure in Galveston, Texas, Natural Hazard Review, Volume 22 Issue 3, August 2021
Hazard Mitigation meets Climate Adaptation – with Dr. Andrew Rumbach, March 15, 2021
Sarah Hamideh, Walter Gillis Peacock, Shannon Van Zandt (2021) Housing type matters for pace of recovery: Evidence from Hurricane Ike, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, April 15 2021
When Safety Is Shattered, February 25, 2021
Texas A&M researchers find evidence common water treatment method can eliminate COVID-19, February 10, 2021
2020
Racing The Sea: Miami Beach’s Housing Crisis Worsened By Climate Change, December 14, 2020
No Way Out: Prisoners are setting fires to protest pandemic conditions, December 13, 2020
Thousands of NJ’s Affordable Homes Under Threat From Climate Change Flooding, December 11, 2020
Maria Watson, Yu Xion, Jennifer Helgeson, Maria Dillard (2020) Importance of Households in Business Disaster Recovery, Natural Hazard Review Vol 21 Issue 4, November 2021
Best response to flooding? Initiative looks for solutions based in evidence, October 27, 2020
Research May Curb Economic Losses To Power Plants After Earthquakes, October 1, 2020
Elderly, Low-Income Louisiana Residents Left to Fend for Themselves After Hurricane Laura, Rescue Group Says, September 30, 2020
Prisons and COVID-19: how is the pandemic complicating how other emergencies are mitigated or prevented, September 29, 2020
These Seniors Were Left Behind When Hurricane Laura Hit. No One Claimed Responsibility, September 25, 2020
These Seniors Were Left Behind When Hurricane Laura Hit. No One Claimed Responsibility, September 23, 2020
As climate change poses an increasing risk, coastal cities rethink engineering to protect against storms, September 18, 2020
Disaster work is often carried out by prisoners – who get paid as little as 14 cents an hour despite dangers, September 15, 2020
Improving The Use Of Social Media For Disaster Management, September 9, 2020
Older volunteers, a mainstay in hurricane rebuilding, are hard to find in a pandemic that puts them at risk, September 5, 2020
Texas A&M Researchers Create Model To Predict Flooding In Urban Areas, August 24, 2020
Clare Losey, Kijin Seong, Shannon Van Zandt (2020) Redressing Racial and Environmental Injustice Through a Voluntary Acquisition and Relocation Program, Environmental justice , Vol 13, No. 4, August 12, 2020
To Remain or Relocate? Mobility Decisions of Homeowners Exposed to Recurrent Hurricanes, Aug 1, 2020
The impact of COVID-19 in prisons, July 21, 2020
What is environmental racism?, July 8, 2020
Planning prof assesses implications of crowdsourced disaster rescue, July 21, 2020
The people who imagine disasters, July 7, 2020
Planning prof heads pioneering study of post-disaster housing aid, June 12, 2020
Why Small Business Don’t Always Get the Aid They Need After a Disaster, Texas Standard, May 19, 2020
Where the oil goes: Communities across the Gulf Coast grapple with impacts of oil and gas, May 8, 2020
Where the Oil Goes: Communities across the Gulf Coast Grapple with Impacts of Oil and Gas, Carlsbad Current Argus, May 8, 2020
Siyu Yu, A. D. Brand & Philip Berke (2020) Making Room for the River, Journal of the American Planning Association, Journal of the American Planning, May 12, 2020
Give Me Money, Give Me Power, and Give Them Death, The Climate Change Debate, April 30, 2020
Cemetery Management Today or Reinterment Management Tomorrow, The Climate Change Debate, April 30, 2020
Coronavirus: Why is it So Hard to Aid Small Businesses Hurt by a Disaster?, The Conversation, April 30, 2020
States are Putting Prisoners to Work Manufacturing Coronavirus Supplies, The Conversation, April 21, 2020
Disasters & Prisoners, PodBean, April 13, 2020
Unequal Exposure, Jim Schwab, April 11, 2020
Areas Hit by Hurricane Harvey Report Surprising Scores for Mental Health, Research TAMU, March 24, 2020
Locked In: COVID-19 and the Prison Population, Journal-Advocate, March 24, 2020
Aggie Planning Scholars Help Develop Trailblazing Natural Disaster Resilience Software, Archone, February 13, 2020
Landmark Hazard Mitigation Book Edited by Emeritus Planning Prof, Archone, February 5, 2020
New Reports Points to Ways for Better Compliance with Flood Insurance Rules, Faster Recovery Process, Coastal Resilience Center, January 13, 2020