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The University of Houston will lead a new Gulf Coast hurricane research institute to examine flood mitigation, hurricane modeling and public policy as part of a multi-state effort to respond to damages wrought this year by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Seven universities in Texas, Florida and Louisiana — including Rice University — will contribute a combined $1.87 million to finance collaborative projects, with additional funding expected from external grants.

The institute puts Houston at the center of hurricane research, which had been scattered across the state and region after storms killed dozens of people, disrupted local economies and caused billions of dollars in property damage.

"Academics are nonpartisan — we think about data and information, we guide the conversation, we don't have a vested interest in one solution versus another," said Hanadi Rifai, a UH civil and environmental engineering professor and the center's director. "(We will be) a very important resource to entities that don't have that capacity."

Other universities joining the institute are Texas Tech University, the University of Texas at Tyler, Louisiana State University, the University of Miami and the University of Florida. The center will be based in UH's engineering college.

Rifai said UH is still reaching out to other campuses that may be interested in joining.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said more study could mean better storm predictions.

"Harvey was nothing but a tropical storm days before it hit," he said. "And then suddenly it became a hurricane...If we had someone to tell us what it is that caused Harvey to blow up into a hurricane instead of a tropical storm, that would help us."

BEFORE & AFTER: Satellite photos show extreme damage of Hurricane Harvey

The center builds on a wide-ranging research effort in Texas that began after Harvey's floodwaters receded.

Professors and students in Texas spread around the state to examine environmental, economic and social issues, and UH's Rifai said she expected the center to fold in some of the work that has already started.

Researchers have tested water, tracked social media cries for help, examined mangroves and the Port Aransas coast and evaluated damage to libraries. An oral history project at UH will track Harvey's human impact.

Philip Klotzbach, who specializes in Atlantic hurricane forecasts at Colorado State University, called the pace of research after Harvey and the development of the center "jaw-droppingly quick."

The National Science Foundation issued requests for proposals after Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Moving forward, Klotzbach said that collaborative research is needed in forecasting storm strength, understanding why residents do not heed warnings and studying building codes.

"There's a lot of interest," he said. "Given what happened and the level of damage we saw in your neck of the woods, people are moving very quickly."

New findings have been released frequently this fall — including a landmark paper presented Wednesday at the annual American Geophysical Union in New Orleans.

Researchers found that global warming made Hurricane Harvey's more than 50 inches of rain three times more likely to occur when comparing today's climate to that of the 1880s. These extreme rain events will continue to occur if climate change continues unchecked, they found.

That's why policy makers "need to consider climate change in our design of infrastructure," said Antonia Sebastian, a Rice post doctoral researcher who is a coauthor on the paper.

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NATURE RULED, MAN REACTED: Harvey was Houston's reckoning (HoustonChronicle.com)

The institute's beginnings reach back to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when Rice, LSU and UH academics began working together.

John Pardue, an LSU civil and environmental engineering professor, recalled the good relationships and smart ideas that followed. One development was Rice's Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters center, through which specific faculty at various institutions work on storm research.

Pardue said he hopes to expand on SSPEED's work with the new center, both in the types of faculty who will submit proposals and in widening the scope of research to Florida.

"In some respect this builds a bigger plate for that effort," he said. "Miami, New Orleans, Houston — there's three distinct situations there. By focusing on those three case studies, we could really cover a lot that could be of real help to (more than) those cities."

Philip Bedient, director of the SSPEED center, is leading Rice's involvement in the new institute, a Rice spokesman said. Bedient was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Rifai, the UH director, said emergency preparedness has come "a long way" since Katrina and that the center's research should continue to look forward.

Participating institutions are public and private, regional and elite. Each is contributing financially to the center's projects; UH put in $500,000.

Administrators say they hope research from the project will inform policy on preparation and damage mitigation.

"The solutions may not lie with one faculty laboratory at a particular university," said Amir Mirmiran, UT-Tyler's provost.

Faculty at UT-Tyler have already focused their research on strengthening residential and commercial buildings to withstand hurricane forces, including better roofing systems, he said.

Faculty from the universities will evaluate research proposals and recommend which ones proceed. Projects considered by the institute will fall into one of six categories: mitigation, assessment, prediction, prevention, educating residents and recovery.

Center leaders say any faculty member from a participating institution can apply for hurricane-related research funding as long as the proposal involves collaboration with a professor at a different participating institution. Applications from professors for the first round of project funding will be due early next year.

Amr Elnashai, UH's research vice president, said he envisions such projects as a data-driven program to help officials relocate displaced residents or a simulation tool for decision makers that would show the outcomes of possible scenarios in times of crisis.

Emmett said he hopes the center will provide information that can help emergency management officials gauge potential risk from approaching storms.

Lindsay Ellis writes about higher education for the Chronicle. You can follow her on Twitter and send her tips at lindsay.ellis@chron.com. Alex Stuckey, who covers science and the environment, contributed to this report.