[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 25, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H7672-H7673]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       UNDERSTANDING STORM SURGE

  (Mr. McNERNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Speaker, as we enter the heart of hurricane season, 
it is important to understand hurricane storm surge.

[[Page H7673]]

  Storm surge is the abnormal rise in water caused by hurricanes and 
the deadliest part of the storm. For large storms, mathematical models 
can predict a storm surge up to 48 hours before landfall. However, a 
48-hour window is not sufficient for emergency management to make 
decisions on an evacuation order needed to save lives.
  I recently met a young woman named Cindi-Ann Findley who has been 
working on solutions to this problem as she completes her undergraduate 
studies. With a National Science Foundation grant, Cindi-Ann is 
spending the summer exploring the sensitivities that lead to errors in 
forecasts by simulating previous storms using a detailed operational 
model. She hopes to find the characteristics that cause the largest 
storm surge errors.
  Her work illustrates just one way that mathematics can be used to 
approach real-world problems and save lives.

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