Texas Tech’s Hurricane Research Team made its way toward the East Coast to deploy StickNets in the North Carolina. Hurricane Florence made landfall in the Carolinas Friday morning, and Texas Tech’s weather technology is supposed to help measure the storm.
“Once we got into the Carolinas, the evacuation traffic was something that I had not personally witnessed before. It made things real of where we were at,” said Mehner, master’s student and Texas Tech hurricane researcher.
The team took 48 StickNets, and they will measure wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity and temperature.
“It gives us GPS coordinates, so we know exactly where it’s located,” said Mehner.
The terrain is different in the Carolinas compared to Texas, so this team has to adjust.
“When we use these instruments, we want wide open spaces that are unimpeded by buildings and trees. So, we can kind of get the most accurate stable wind flow that’s not being affected by its structures or objects like that. In the Carolinas, that’s very challenging because there are a lot of trees. Lots of tall, evergreen trees,” said Mehner.
They’re in Lumberton, North Carolina, and Mehner said it was empty Friday after hundreds left evacuation zones.
“The inbound lanes on certain highways were backed up for miles and miles and miles, even through the most western part of both of those states. It’s obvious to me that the majority of the population to this storm very seriously,” said Mehner.
The team expects this research to help them survey future hurricanes.
“Primarily to understand what we think the impacts of wind and the wind hazards are going to be for the regions impacted,” Mehner explained.
