Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Senate Visitor Center Room 203

3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Lahars are rapidly rushing rivers of water and rock fragments that slide down volcanoes. They occur on the Aleutian volcanic arc in Alaska and the Cascade Range in the Northwest U.S. Lahars can flow down slopes at over 120 miles per hour and grow to 10 times their initial size. Lahars can trap people in hazardous areas and move bridges, buildings, and other manmade structures caught in their flow. To better understand how and when lahars happen, scientists use technology to observe, describe, and model the events as they unfold.

Learn how scientists are working to protect communities impacted by lahars across the U.S. at this widely attended briefing. Refreshments will be served. 

PLANNED REMARKS BY SENATORS LISA MURKOWSKI AND MARIA CANTWELL

Speakers:

Dave Norman, State Geologist of Washington

Jeff Rubin, Emergency Manager at Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue

Charlie Mandeville, Program Coordinator for the USGS Volcano Hazards Program

Moderator:

Kasey White, Geoscicence Policy Director at the Geological Society of America