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HOUSTON, Sept. 20-- In the aftermath of tropical storm Harvey, expert believe there is a long way to go to improve emergency preparedness system in the United States. Category four Hurricane Harvey made a landfall along the coast of Gulf of Mexico. The storm brought uNPRecedented rainfall to the greater Houston area in south U.S., killing dozens of people. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said damage by Hurricane Harvey would reach 150 billion to 180 billion U.S. dollars. During an exclusive interview by Xinhua, Jim Blackburn, co-director of Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation Center from Disasters in Rice University, said the disaster showed there is a lot to improve the emergency preparedness system in the U.S. "We have a long way to go in emergency preparedness system. There's a much better warning system that we could have. In fact it would be very easy to have." According to him, the flood-alert system in the Texas Medical Center (TMC) in Houston sets a good example for the entire country. Designed by Rice University civil engineering professor Philip Bedient and other experts, the Flood Alert System - now in its third version - uses radar, rain gauges, cameras and modeling to indicate whether Houston's Brays Bayou is at risk of overflowing and flooding the TMC. The system can predict maximum flooding conditions two to three hours ahead of time and track rain totals more accurately than radar alone. | 
