{"id":26293,"date":"2026-04-20T19:30:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=26293&post_type=story"},"modified":"2026-04-20T19:30:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:30:03","slug":"prepared-to-protect","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/prepared-to-protect\/","title":{"rendered":"Prepared to Protect"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Historic event.” This phrase has appeared more often in the news. Hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, viral outbreaks, cyberattacks, mass shootings \u2014 disasters both natural and human-caused are hitting harder and closer to home, reshaping lives and even topography.<\/p>\n

While hardly new, catastrophes continue to challenge communities everywhere. In fact, the U.S. has averaged more than 10 major disaster events every year for the past decade, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information\u2019s 2024 billion-dollar disaster analysis.<\/p>\n

When Hurricane Helene \u2014 one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes to hit the continental U.S. since Hurricane Katrina \u2014 swept across Florida in September 2024, residents watched as the Category 4 storm made roads disappear beneath rising floodwaters, submerged entire neighborhoods and caused trees to snap like matchsticks. Amid the devastation, first responders and emergency management personnel worked around the clock, coordinating rescues, directing resources and keeping the public informed. Their quick action not only saved lives, but also marked the beginning of a long road to recovery for the hard-hit communities.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the truth: When people are unprepared, it increases the likelihood of disasters leaving deeper scars \u2014 more tragic deaths, more economic damage, more long-term struggles. But with effective emergency management, the worst impacts can be reduced or even prevented altogether.<\/p>\n

Since the dawn of time, people have found ways to prepare for the unexpected, from ancient civilizations stockpiling food in case there\u2019s a drought to cities building flood defenses. Emergency management aims to establish safe and resilient communities that can effectively cope with hazards and disasters. And today, UCF is at the forefront of the field.<\/p>\n

Home to the nation\u2019s No. 1 emergency and crisis management graduate program (U.S. News & World Report<\/em>)<\/a>, UCF is where students and faculty are shaping the strategies that protect lives and strengthening the systems that prepare communities for whatever comes next.<\/p>\n

When Disaster Strikes<\/h2>\n

During the devastating tragedy that was Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi were slammed with a storm surge that covered rooftops and erased entire communities from the map.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about everything just being wiped off the face of the Earth,\u201d says Chris Emrich, Boardman Endowed Professor of Environmental Science and Public Administration in the School of Public Administration. \u201c[That area] was one place where I could go and study pure hurricane impacts. And what I came to understand is that disasters are local. The decisions we make as a society really matter in how we\u2019re able to prepare for, respond to and rebound from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those decisions are only getting more complicated. Longer droughts are colliding with intense rainfalls. Intersections that never used to flood are now drowning in stormwater. Coastal cities are caught between sea-level rise and booming populations, while inland towns are facing storms that rarely make national headlines.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlace matters when it comes to disaster,\u201d Emrich says.<\/p>\n

Florida, for example, has finite land, finite water and a rapidly growing population. That tension between economic growth, ecological balance and community safety creates what he calls \u201ctricky problems.\u201d And tricky problems require more than one kind of expert.<\/p>\n

\"Portrait<\/p>\n

The decisions we make as a society really matter in how we\u2019re able to prepare for, respond to and rebound from [disasters].\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n