# Time Sensitive Award Mechanism - Using Exposure Science to Identify Populations at Risk in the Aftermath of Hurricane Harvey

> **NIH NIH R21** · RICE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $548,223

## Abstract

Time-Sensitive Award Mechanism – Using Exposure Science to Identify Populations at Risk in the Aftermath of
Hurricane Harvey
Summary
Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 26th in Rockport, Texas. Unprecedented rain from the storm
dumped over 50 inches on the Houston region. Ten counties were declared disaster areas due to the storm.
Preliminary satellite imagery analysis indicates that 730+ square kilometers of land were flooded in Harris and
Galveston counties, with a significant portion residential. The greater Houston area includes roughly 570
chemical plants, 43 Superfund sites (13 of which flooded), 9 refineries, 188 cement batch plants, 80 metal
recycling facilities, as well as numerous underground storage tanks. Receding flood waters will likely result in
widespread mold and potentially bacterial contamination in residential and commercial structures. The extent
of toxic contamination of the air, water, and soil has yet to be assessed. There is also uncertainty related to the
complex mixtures of contaminants, as well as the impact of psychological stress. The potential for health risk is
clear.
The scope and scale of the storm event calls for an innovative approach to understanding the environmental
health risks in the aftermath of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey. We propose to use state of the art data and
exposure science to identify WHO was (and continues to be) exposed to WHAT and in so doing establish
baseline understanding of the risks for longer term environmental health effects from the storm. Our specific
aims are to: 1) develop an open web platform for storing, sharing, and analyzing data from the greater Houston
area; 2) enroll individuals who did and did not experience flooding into a pilot registry and collect basic health
and housing information on them; 3) integrate all available environmental exposure data related to the storm
into the project's spatial data architecture; 4) identify vulnerable individuals and populations based on their
exposures and characteristics; and 5) make the resources developed under this R21 available to the larger
research and public health communities.
The proposed work leverages a rich array of resources available through Rice and through our strong
partnership with the City of Houston and the Environmental Defense Fund. We maintain the Houston Urban
Data Platform, which is a secure data repository that holds over 5Tb of geo-referenced curated data related to
the greater Houston area. Team members have a long history of collaborating toward a deeper understanding
and improved real-time management of environmental exposures for residents of the greater Houston area.
Team members also bring extensive experience in community-engaged activities, post-hurricane research,
and research dependent on participant recruitment.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10195430
- **Project number:** 3R21ES029461-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** RICE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Marie Lynn Miranda
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $548,223
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-03-01 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10195430

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10195430, Time Sensitive Award Mechanism - Using Exposure Science to Identify Populations at Risk in the Aftermath of Hurricane Harvey (3R21ES029461-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10195430. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*