New software system will predict total damage pattern caused by landfalling hurricanes days in advance, enable safer evacuations
Cambridge, MA – Thursday, September 26, 2002 As Tropical Storm Isidore makes landfall in the Gulf of Mexico, Delta Search Labs, the Cambridge-based supercomputing and advanced visualization company, today announced its plans to build a software system capable of predicting the total damage pattern caused by a landfalling hurricanes days in advance of their arrival.
The software system, currently under development, utilizes mathematical models of wind patterns for entire storm structures as well as wind flows over and around individual buildings as the storm passes over them to build its predictive models. This information is combined with a database containing information about building sizes and locations, a structural vulnerability model, and information about flying debris to create a pattern of predicted wind damage as a storm moves ashore.
"For the first time ever, city managers will have an accurate advance view of the damage a storm can cause,” says Professor Brian Lee, Chair of the UK Advisory Committee on Natural Disaster Reduction, Advisor to the United Nations on Natural Disaster Reduction, and Consultant to Delta Search Labs. CEO Kamal Jaffrey notes, “This software system is yet another example of Delta Search Lab’s mission to creatively use state-of-the-art supercomputer and visualization technologies to solve real-world problems.”
This planning tool will enable city and state government, transportation, and utility officials to plan for safer evacuations and to design a targeted response in the aftermath future storms. The software system, using data from past storms, can also be used to evaluate the benefits of various damage reduction techniques, estimate insurance risk, and to train fire and rescue services.
About Delta Search Labs
Delta Search Labs is a unique, privately funded problem-solving and idea realization facility dedicated to the creative exploitation of state-of-the-art supercomputer and visualization technologies.
For more information about Delta Search Labs, please visit our website at www.deltasearchlabs.com. Note to editors: For further information about this release contact Delta Search Labs at 617-551-4609.