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Hurricane Research Can Prevent Widespread Devastation

by Fla. GOP Sen. Mel Martinez - 10/02/06 1:58 PM ET

Hurricanes cause more economic damage to a more widespread area than any other natural disaster. Despite all the research we’ve done to date, there are still a lot of unknowns about hurricanes, predicting intensity, storm surge, and how certain structures are able to survive the fiercest storms.

From a federal level, we have a duty to invest more in research, coordinate efforts, and make the data readily available for real world applications.

Our bill, the National Hurricane Research Initiative, was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators and it takes National Science Board recommendations and builds a foundation for better, more targeted, and more coordinated research.