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Project Title: Building Infrastructure to Prevent Disasters like Hurricane Maria

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation

Proposal Number: 1810886, 1810647,

RAPID Collaborative Research Awarded Institutions:

University of Washington, Virginia Tech, CUAHSI, University of Pennsylvania, Utah State University

Recovery efforts from natural disasters can be more efficient with data-driven information on the current needs and future risks. We aim to advance open-source software infrastructure to support scientific investigation with a prototype system developed for post-Hurricane Maria drinking water contamination in Puerto Rico. The current widespread disruption of drinking water distribution systems in Puerto Rico may pose risks to human health, but there is no existing digital infrastructure to scientifically determine the impacts of baseline environmental conditions, the hurricane event, and response to the crisis within a framework of understanding impacts to population health. We are conducting a drinking water field campaign (in collaboration with Puerto Rican colleagues) to analyze for biological, inorganic chemicals, and organic compounds. Months after Hurricane Maria, elementary questions on how to provide needed water quantity and quality and how to support basic human health care cannot be answered. Hurricane, environmental, water quality and health data integrated in one infrastructure system will be a resource for researchers to examine all aspects of how natural-human coupled systems respond to extreme weather events. We are developing a unique data archive to allow us to generate testable hypotheses on how the severity of a hazard to human health and well-being is related to the sophistication, connectivity, and operations of the physical and digital infrastructure systems.

The National Science Foundation Software Infrastructure for Sustainable Innovation (SI2) program has supported the BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE TO PREVENT DISASTERS LIKE HURRICANE MARIA project (December 2017- Nov 2018) through a Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant.