For scientists, HurricaneIan has been both a research opportunity and an ordeal.
Forrest Masters, a civil engineer from the University of Florida , spent much of Wednesday hunkered down at the Punta Gorda Airport near Fort Myers, Florida, as 185-kilometer-per-hour winds from Hurricane Ian lashed the building—and nearby instruments collected data.
For some like Masters, the storm was an object of study, promising insights into everything from the adequacy of building codes to the fate of sand dunes during storms. Milbrandt and others, meanwhile, have been forced to flee and are now worried about their homes, experiments, and laboratories.Science
At the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, based in Sarasota, 100 kilometers to the north, the scale of the damage was still unclear Thursday evening. The lab announced Monday that it was closing. “Staff members are focusing on protecting themselves and personal property, checking in on loved ones, dealing with power outages, etc.,” spokesperson Stephannie Kettle wrote in an email Thursday. “I will update you when it is safe to do so.
For others the hurricane brought new data. As the storm approached, Masters drove from the UF campus in Gainesville toward the storm with six vehicles loaded with 20 tons of equipment. The goal: “To collect measurements in the areas that are going to be the hardest hit,” a bleary Masters said on Thursday, after returning home from several days with little sleep.
Now, as recovery begins, other scientists are getting on the road to study the damage. On Thursday, engineers driving cars equipped with camera systems much like those used to capture images for Google Maps headed toward southwestern Florida. There, they will gather footage as the first stage of