We need to have social scientists working with disaster planners so that evacuation plans are realistic and actually work in the short time frame we may have available.

If we're talking about saving lives, we're really talking about preparing local communities.

If we're talking about saving lives, we're really talking about preparing local communities. When a tsunami happens, it will take 30 minutes or less. So how you can rely on a top-down official warning system from the buoy? ... Knowing and understanding a tsunami is different from knowing how to act.

This is not just an incremental step forward. It changes fundamentally the way these scientists can do their work.

Katrina was a disaster that scientists, emergency management officials and political leaders had anticipated for years, yet the initial response was woefully inadequate,

We do a lot of emergency preparedness work for families and communities on how to prepare for disaster. Our plan is mirrored after the national plan from the Bureau of Homeland Security.