RAND, Gulf Coast schools to establish center to study long-term hurricane recovery issues
Most of the recovery and rebuilding activities along the Gulf Coast are addressing short-term needs. RAND and seven regional universities have created an institute to look into long-term recovery and rebuilding issues
Santa Monica, California-based RAND is teaming up with seven Gulf Coast universities to create an institute — to be named the Gulf States Policy Institute — to help the hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast by finding long-term solutions to issues such as flood control, housing, education, and emergency response. Many groups have addressed short-term problems from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but not enough attention has been given to long-term challenges, RAND president and CEO James Thomson said. Researchers plan to share their findings with local, state, and federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and DHS. The institute plans to seek about $5 million in annual funding from nonprofits, donors, government, and the private sector.
The participating schools are University of South Alabama, Jackson State University, University of Southern Mississippi, Tulane University, University of New Orleans, Xavier University, and Tuskegee University.
-read more at RAND Web site
