NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The maps used to predict the critical rise of storm surge during recent hurricanes on the U.S. Gulf Coast contained different data, researchers say.
The differences complicated emergency planning during Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and pointed out the need for accelerated scientific research into the phenomenon, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Sunday.
"We are 20 years behind where we want to be," said Robert Twilley, who oversees the surge-modeling program at Louisiana State University.
The newspaper said the current maps were created by different agencies and predicted water levels at different times during a hurricane's landfall. The result, the newspaper, said was contradictory and sometimes incorrect information.
Some researchers called on the National Hurricane Center to provide more-detailed real-time statistics about storms that threaten the coast so that they can make better surge predictions.
