More than 100 hurricane experts gathered Tuesday and Wednesday in the Lod Cook Conference Center for the first Central Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Conference.The conference, held by the University and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, featured experts and officials from all levels, including federal and state emergency managers, members of the military, forecasters and University officials.Roy Dokka, civil and environmental engineering professor, said most of the people in attendance were involved in either assessing the initial problems presented by hurricanes or in dealing with the aftermath.A number of issues were discussed, including hurricane preparedness, forecasting, coastal inundation, storm surge models and new products and resources that NOAA and the University will implement for the upcoming hurricane season, which begins June 1. “The most important issue is perhaps that coastal residents don’t fully comprehend the vulnerabilities affecting the coast, and those vulnerabilities are increasing,” Dokka said. “But the good news is that the people responsible are more aware than they were before.”John Lombardi, LSU System president, said the issues discussed were central to the people of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, and a hurricane’s impact can scatter throughout an entire region.A series of presentations were given Tuesday, including one by Barry Keim, Louisiana state climatologist.He said the biggest problem during hurricanes are the storm surges, which are responsible for 90 percent of deaths during a storm, and Hurricane Katrina had a storm surge of 27.8 feet, the largest surge the Gulf of Mexico has experienced in the last 100 years.Seth Gutman, NOAA researcher, discussed using atmospheric observations with GPS and the importance of improving today’s technology to better predict storms.”We need improved observations,” Gutman said. “Timely observations provide situational awareness to forecasters, decision makers and the general public.”Joe Suhayda, civil engineer and coast and environment researcher, said storm surge patterns reflect landscape more than actual storm features and levees should be strategically placed in response.”Landforms block the flow of the water, but the water is never lost,” Suhayda said. “It’s just pushed around.”Wednesday began with a presentation from Gordon Dove, state representative and chair of national resources and environment, about the coastal restoration process.”Terrebonne Parish is the fastest eroding parish in the world, and it’s eroding at a pace that’s actually terrifying,” Dove said.But Dove said the state is taking great strides in the coastal restoration process, and Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Legislature are committed to moving many coastal restoration projects forward.Protecting the marshes will decrease the level of surge during a hurricane, Dove said.”It’s important not only to rebuild the islands and shoreline but the marshes behind it,” he said.The project will require more funding, Dove said.”We’re currently funded by $1.5 billion, but to do it properly, we’re looking at $100 billion, which Louisiana can never really do on its own,” he said. “It’s going to be a constant fight to get this done.”–Contact Sarah Eddington at [email protected]