Madison Reporter

Hurricane Helene struck Florida late Thursday night, bringing 140 mile per hour winds and heavy rain. The storm caused significant destruction, flooding, and resulted in at least 22 deaths, with more fatalities expected to be discovered. Experts from UW–Madison are available to provide insight and analysis as recovery efforts commence.

Associate professor of sociology Max Besbris is available for interviews regarding how storm damage can worsen inequality and influence residents' decisions on whether to rebuild or relocate after extensive property damage. He can be contacted at besbris@wisc.edu.

Sarah Griffin, an associate research scientist with the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, specializes in tropical cyclone meteorology and validating forecast accuracy. She can discuss the use of satellite data in tracking and predicting tropical cyclones and hurricanes. Her contact email is sarah.griffin@ssec.wisc.edu.

Derrick Herndon, an assistant researcher with the same institute, uses satellite data to study hurricane intensity and has been monitoring Hurricane Helene's approach to Florida. He is available to speak about forecasting and the storm's intensity at dherndon@ssec.wisc.edu.

Shane Hubbard, a research scientist at the Space Science and Engineering Center, can provide interviews about the impacts of the hurricane and flooding. Hubbard is an expert in loss and damage estimation following natural disasters. He can be reached at shane.hubbard@ssec.wisc.edu.

More experts on news and current events are listed in the UW–Madison Experts Database.