Hurricanes are massive tropical winds that can cause detrimental destruction that can often be deadly. Hurricane Harvey was a catastrophe that brought in 27 trillion gallons of rain into Texas, $125 billion in damage and a documented death toll of 88. Houstonians are still recovering from the damage in some areas, but Dr. Huilin Gao, assistant professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University, is using Hurricane Harvey to research how coastal flooding damage can be minimalized in the future.
Gao has been awarded a grant (CBET 1805584) from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to research how key factors in the urban areas of Houston played a role in the amount of flooding that ensued. She will focus on how urbanization factored in to the severity of the flooding, evaluate the skill of precipitation forecasting along with its impact on streamflow prediction and investigate the effectiveness of reservoir flow regulation during the event. The research using this integrated modeling framework will help close existing knowledge gaps and will improve future decision-making under extreme flood events.
Gao will seek out solutions to mitigate the impacts of coastal urban flooding by deciphering the hydrological processes that were used during the hurricane. Her objective is to enhance environmental sustainability education for students of all
Gao’s research interests consist of hydrometeorology, hydroclimatology, hydrological modeling, remote sensing and water resources management. She has previously received the TEES Young Faculty Fellow Award, the National Academies of Sciences Engineering Medicine Early-Career Research Fellowship and the NSF CAREER Award.