HURRICANE SEASON:  
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA RESOURCES FOR NEWS MEDIA


DISASTER PREVENTION

	Timothy Beatley, chair of the U.Va. department of urban and
environmental planning and co-author of the book "Catastrophic
Coastal Storms," has long warned that chances for a major U.S.
hurricane disaster will steadily increase unless federal, state and
local governments develop better land-use policies for protecting
life and property in storms.  Steering new growth and development
away from hazardous shorefront areas should be a foremost priority
for planners at all levels, he says.  Subsidies and enticements that
encourage dangerous or destructive shoreline development patterns
should be eliminated or sharply reduced, says Beatley, who points
out that the U.S. is increasingly becoming a coast-oriented nation.
Phone:  (804) 924-6459, e-mail tb6d@virginia.edu

EROSION

	Robert Dolan, professor of environmental sciences, is a
leading authority on the causes of beach erosion.  In recent years,
he has studied the effectiveness of "beach nourishment" (pumping
sand onto beaches to replace that lost in storms) and co-founded a
consulting firm that makes risk assessment reports to property
owners on North Carolina's Outer Banks.  Phone:  (804) 924 0544,
e-mail rd5q@virginia.edu

CLIMATOLOGY

	Patrick Michaels, climatologist in the department of
environmental sciences, can speak about the global weather patterns
that give rise to hurricanes and can explain why there are so many
more this year.  Phone:  (804) 924-0549, e-mail pjm8x@virginia.edu

VIRGINIA COASTLINE

	Bruce Hayden, environmental sciences professor, heads a team
of researchers who are studying the effects of hurricanes and other
natural processes on Virginia's barrier islands.  Phone:  (804)
924-0545, e-mail bph@virginia.edu

INLAND EFFECTS

	Janet Herman, an aqueous geochemist, can describe the
effects a hurricane may have on aquifers if a storm moves inland.
Phone:  (804) 924-0553, e-mail jsh5w@virginia.edu

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September 1, 1995