Wind Research Experts Available as 2008 Tornado Season Begins
February 7, 2008
[Editor’s note: Larry Tanner is in the Memphis area starting this afternoon (Feb. 7) to assess structural damage from Tuesday’s storms.] Texas Tech University, home to some of the nation’s most prominent wind researchers, has experts available, as tornado season made an early entrance across the Southeastern United States.
They can speak to issues from home safety to the Enhanced Fujita Scale, such as:
• How does the Enhanced Fujita Scale work?
• Where is the best place to hide during a tornado?
• How do homeowners ensure an in-home shelter will withstand a wind storm?
Through the collaborative Wind Science and Engineering Research Center, scientists
and engineers have collected one of the country’s largest repositories of wind data
and helped develop the Enhanced Fujita Scale implemented by the National Weather Service
last year.
Larry Tanner, research associate in civil engineering, has years of field experience
studying tornado damage and debris. Tanner’s research of approximately 400 manufactured
homes damaged by a 2005 tornado that killed 22 people in Evansville, Ind., prompted
new standards for mobile home installation in the region. Tanner can be reached in
the field at (806) 543-4957, on campus at (806) 742-3476 ext. 336 or larry.tanner@ttu.edu.
Andrew Swift, director of the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center, has been
a member of review panels for the Department of Energy Wind Energy Program and for
the National Science Foundation. In addition to his faculty duties, he teaches short
courses and seminars on wind power. He can be reached at (806) 742-3476 ext. 342,
or andy.swift@ttu.edu.
Kishor Mehta, former director of the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center,
helped lead a team that developed the new Enhanced Fujita Scale implemented by the
National Weather Service in February 2007. He is a member of the National Academy
of Engineering for his studies of structural damage caused by windstorms and leadership
in developing structural design standards for wind loads. He can be reached at (806)
742-3479 ext. 323, or kishor.mehta@ttu.edu.
Ernst Kiesling, professor of civil engineering and executive director of the National
Storm Shelter Association, specializes in debris impact and above-ground shelters.
He has more than 30 years of experience documenting debris damage and testing materials
and construction. He can be reached at (806) 742-3476 ext. 335, or ernst.kiesling@wind.ttu.edu.