Disaster recovery

Many immediate issues emerge in the wake of a major disaster, ranging from physical reconstruction and environmental and engineering concerns to legal questions, governance and economic stability. The following experts can address these concerns.

POST-DISASTER RECONSTRUCTION/GOVERNMENT ROLE IN DISASTER RECOVERY

Mary Comerio
Professor emerita of architecture
Email: mcomerio@berkeley.edu
Media Relations contact: Kathleen Maclay, (510) 643-5651, kmaclay@berkeley.edu

Expertise: Comerio is an internationally recognized authority on post-disaster reconstruction issues. She recommends tax credits for modifying buildings and infrastructure to improve resistance to hazards, a reconception of the government's role in disaster recovery, and government intervention to revitalize the private disaster insurance market.

Comerio has spent much of the last 20 years on reconnaissance missions to the scenes of tragedies such as Hurricane Andrew, and the Loma Prieta, Kobe, Christchurch and Haitian earthquakes. She advised in a 1998 book, "Disaster Hits Home: New Policy for Urban Housing Recovery," that unless new policies are adopted, natural disasters will continue to leave economic and housing ruin in their wake.

ENGINEERING

Robert Bea
Professor of civil engineering
Campus Office: (510) 642-0967
Home Office: (925) 631-1587
Email: bea@ce.berkeley.edu
Media Relations contact: Sarah Yang, (510) 643-7741, scyang@berkeley.edu

Ray Seed
Professor of civil engineering
Email: rmseed6@aol.com
Media Relations contact: Sarah Yang, (510) 643-7741, scyang@berkeley.edu

Expertise: Seed's research focus is on the performance of dams and waste fills, and on the interaction between soil and structures.

GAS PRICES

Severin Borenstein
Professor of business administration and public policy, Co-director of the UC Energy Institute, research associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research
Office: (510) 642-3689
Email: borenste@haas.berkeley.edu
Media Relations contact: Kathleen Maclay, (510) 643-5651, kmaclay@berkeley.edu

Expertise: Gasoline and oil market pricing and competition; U.S. and international airline industry and competition; electricity deregulation, market formation and competition.

LAW
 
Daniel A. Farber
Sho Sato Professor of Law; Director, Environmental Law Program at the School of Law (Boalt Hall)
Phone: (510) 642-0340
Email: dfarber@law.berkeley.edu
Media Relations contact: Kathleen Maclay, (510) 643-5651, kmaclay@berkeley.edu

Expertise: Techniques of risk assessment and risk management, environmental issues, planning procedures for government projects, disasters and the law.