WASHINGTON (Sept. 27, 2022)— As Hurricane Ian barrels its way toward Florida, Tampa and other Florida cities are bracing for the impact. Yet research by a George Washington University public health expert suggests that Tampa has done very little to prepare for the lashing that Ian is likely to bring with it. “Tampa faces some of the greatest hurricane risk of any city in America,” Sabrina McCormick, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at GW, says. “Yet it is not prepared for a major hurricane.”
McCormick studied 6 American cities to find out how prepared they were for the extreme weather of climate change and found that Tampa ranked last. That study was published in 2015 but to prepare for Ian and other storms properly the city would have had to embark on years of infrastructure upgrades. If Ian continues on its dangerous path, Tampa and other Florida cities will likely see damage to infrastructure, injuries and potential loss of human life, with the most vulnerable populations facing the greatest risk, McCormick warns.
To interview Sabrina McCormick, please contact GW media at [email protected].
Watch a video that explains McCormick’s research here and here.
-GW-