Can we build a world where hurricanes can't kill?

Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina devastated America’s Gulf
coast and overwhelmed the city of New Orleans. The destruction
and the response to the storm became infamous and are debated to
this day.


Climate scientists warn that the warming world is likely to make
typhoons, cyclones and hurricanes more intense and so even more
dangerous.


Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar ask what the world has learned
since the disaster in New Orleans, and how we can build cities
that can stand up better to more extreme weather events.


They chat to Prof Reggie DesRoches, an engineer who was on the
ground in the aftermath of Katrina to help find out what had gone
wrong. His work specialises in adapting infrastructure for
natural disasters, including developing innovative materials and
practical techniques that might just help us adapt to more
violent storms.


Can we build a world where hurricanes can't kill?


Guest: Prof Reggie DesRoches, President, Rice University, Houston


Presenter: Graihagh Jackson with Jordan Dunbar Producers: Jordan
Dunbar, Di Richardson and Nik Sindle Sound mix: Tom Brignell and
Sarah Kimberley Editor: Simon Watts


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