Soldiers assigned to the 1-118th Infantry Battalion, South Carolina Army National Guard conduct traffic control points alongside S.C. Highway Patrolmen in Mullins, S.C., to prevent motorist from traveling into flooded roads on Sept. 20.

Soldiers assigned to the 1-118th Infantry Battalion, South Carolina Army National Guard conduct traffic control points alongside S.C. Highway Patrolmen in Mullins, S.C., to prevent motorist from traveling into flooded roads on Sept. 20. Staff Sgt. Jorge Intriago/Army National Guard

What Disasters Like Hurricane Florence Teach Policymakers

An expert who's studied natural disasters like Hurricane Florence explains how disasters can teach us to help prepare for the future.

Town and city leaders are working to get operations running again after Hurricane Florence. The next step will be to think about what their communities can do differently so the next big weather event doesn’t cause as many problems.

Elizabeth Albright, assistant professor of the practice of environmental science and policy methods at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, studies how communities recover after devastating natural disasters. For one research project, she followed seven Colorado communities for three years following deadly floods there.

Here, Albright talks to Judith Kelley about what she learned from her research:

This article was originally published in Futurity. Edits have been made to this republication. It has been republished under the Attribution 4.0 International license.