In the new book "Lessons from Hurricane Ike," Rice University severe-storm expert Phil Bedient and more than 20 researchers from the Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center give a 194-page accounting of all they have learned in more than two years of studying Ike, which caused nearly $25 billion damage and killed dozens. "Lessons from Hurricane Ike" is not a textbook. Its 12 chapters summarize key information about specific topics like storm prediction and emergency planning. The writing is accessible and easy for nonexperts to understand, and each chapter is accompanied by a provocative collection of color photos, diagrams, maps and illustrations. The result is a contextual work that uses the latest science has to offer to contrast Ike with both past storms and future storms. "This book should be read by anyone in an official capacity who desires a deeper understanding of the complexities of developing in the hurricane impact zone," wrote National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read in a review on the book's back cover. "Particular attention should be paid to the chapter on 'Steps to the Future,' which I found very insightful in addressing the daunting task before the next 'Big One' impacts the Texas Gulf Coast." Bedient, Rice's Herman Brown Professor of Engineering and one of the world's foremost flooding experts, co-wrote three chapters of the book. Blackburn, professor in the practice of environmental law in Rice's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, co-wrote the final chapter, "Steps to the Future." That chapter compares a variety of structural and nonstructural storm-protection proposals, including the 100-mile "Ike Dike" seawall, a floodgate at the mouth of the Houston Ship Channel and a national recreation area to preserve wetlands as natural flood barriers.  |