{"690988":{"#nid":"690988","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How AI-Powered Flood Forecasts Could Transform Hurricane Resilience","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWritten by Anne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen most people think of hurricanes, they picture howling winds tearing off roofs and snapping trees. But for Ali Sarhadi, a Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS) Faculty Fellow, assistant professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sarhadi.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EClimate Risk and Extreme Dynamics Lab\u003C\/a\u003E, the real killer is often less visible. \u201cPeople think that hurricanes are about wind, but sometimes that\u2019s not the whole story,\u201d he said. \u201cThe majority of fatalities are coming from the water, not the wind.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESupported by two Sustainability Next Seed Grants, Sarhadi\u2019s work draws on climate science, fluid physics, engineering, and artificial intelligence. He\u2019s using AI-powered, physics-informed models to better anticipate water hazards that can cripple cities and power grids in both coastal and inland communities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERethinking Hurricane Risk\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESarhadi focuses on compound flooding, the dangerous interaction between storm surge, torrential rainfall, and river flooding that increasingly defines hurricanes. He points to Hurricane Mitch, which hit Central America in 1998, as a stark example, noting that more than 12,000 people died, \u201call from freshwater flooding \u2014 none from wind,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis work has shown how climate change and sea-level rise are reshaping flood risk from storms like Hurricane Sandy, which devastated New York and New Jersey in October 2012. In the current climate, a Sandy-level natural disaster has a recurrence period of roughly once every 150 years. But that is changing fast. \u201cBecause of climate change and sea-level rise, by the middle of this century, the same level of flooding is likely to occur once every 60 years. By the end of the century, that goes up to once every 30 years,\u201d he says. \u201cHurricane Sandy caused about $70 billion in damage. Imagine experiencing that kind of destruction every 30 years.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince 1970, Sarhadi notes, damage from tropical cyclones has increased by about 380% globally, a trend driven by the combined effect of stronger storms and more people and infrastructure being located in harm\u2019s way.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPhysics-Informed AI: Street-Level Flood Warnings\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile storm forecasting has improved dramatically in recent decades, Sarhadi argues, \u201cWe\u2019re in good shape in terms of track forecasting, and we\u2019re getting better at rapid intensification forecasting. But what is missing is the hazard part, and specifically the water part. That\u2019s the number one killer.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis lab is developing AI models tightly coupled with physics-based simulations to forecast hurricane-induced flooding at unprecedented resolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing Hurricane Sandy as a test case, his team showed that by integrating physics-based surge and rainfall models with generative AI, they could forecast building-level flood depths three to five days before landfall. \u201cWe could predict that a storm was surge-dominant and estimate how much flooding could happen at the level of each building with an accuracy beyond 90%,\u201d he says. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThose extra days, and that level of granularity, could give emergency managers and local leaders the information they need to order earlier evacuations, pre-stage resources, and protect critical infrastructure. \u201cWe hope by combining AI and physics-based models we can come up with faster, more accurate modeling, first, to save lives, and then to minimize the economic damage,\u201d Sarhadi says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETargeting Georgia\u2019s Coastline\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough much of the public\u2019s attention focuses on the Gulf Coast and megacities on the Eastern Seaboard, Georgia\u2019s coastline is also highly vulnerable to surge and compound flooding. Sarhadi is collaborating with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sciences.gatech.edu\/georgias-tomorrow\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech for Georgia\u2019s Tomorrow\u003C\/a\u003E to model risk in places like Savannah and the surrounding coastal region. \u201cWe\u2019re working to come up with good long-term solutions for protecting coastal communities and infrastructure,\u201d he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEvents like Hurricane Helene in 2024, which triggered extended blackouts in Georgia and lethal flooding in western North Carolina, underscore how far inland these risks can reach. \u201cPeople think hurricanes are just a problem for coastal areas,\u201d Sarhadi says. \u201cBut even if you are far from a coastline, you can be at risk when saturated soils, torrential rain, and river flooding combine.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBuilding Climate-Resilient Power Grids and Cities\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESarhadi\u2019s work doesn\u2019t stop at forecasting. A central focus of his research is climate-resilient infrastructure, particularly the power grid. His team is exploring digital twin modeling \u2014 virtual replicas of energy and infrastructure systems. \u201cWhen you have a digital twin of your grid, you can run that hurricane through it and identify which substations or power lines are more vulnerable,\u201d he says, explaining that this knowledge could trigger utility crews to fix or reinforce power lines ahead of storms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELooking decades ahead, these tools could help utilities and planners prioritize where to upgrade aging infrastructure as hurricanes intensify and water levels rise. \u201cWe know hurricanes are getting more intense, and our infrastructure is aging,\u201d Sarhadi said. \u201cBy combining engineering, climate science, and AI, we\u2019re trying to design better adaptation plans so our communities and power systems are more resilient in the future.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy combining physics-based AI with climate and engineering insights, Ali Sarhadi is redefining how we predict compound flooding, safeguard power grids, and build hurricane-resilient infrastructure.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Assistant Professor Ali Sarhadi is using AI and digital twins to predict how and where major storms will cause the most damage."}],"uid":"27338","created_gmt":"2026-06-30 19:48:34","changed_gmt":"2026-06-30 19:53:23","author":"Brent Verrill","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680539":{"id":"680539","type":"image","title":"Ali Sarhadi Portrait","body":null,"created":"1782848936","gmt_created":"2026-06-30 19:48:56","changed":"1782849065","gmt_changed":"2026-06-30 19:51:05","alt":"Portrait of an individual standing on a paved campus walkway, wearing a light-colored button-down shirt. Trees, landscaped green spaces, and campus buildings appear in the softly blurred background, with daylight illuminating the outdoor scene. The image is framed from the waist up, with the individual centered in the foreground.","file":{"fid":"264813","name":"Ali_Sarhadi_portrait.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/30\/Ali_Sarhadi_portrait.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/06\/30\/Ali_Sarhadi_portrait.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1150773,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/06\/30\/Ali_Sarhadi_portrait.jpg?itok=InSZB5Ps"}}},"media_ids":["680539"],"groups":[{"id":"244191","name":"Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"194836","name":"Sustainability"}],"keywords":[{"id":"188360","name":"go-bbiss"},{"id":"195184","name":"Ali Sarhadi"},{"id":"179230","name":"digital twin"},{"id":"194819","name":"hurricane forecasting"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"194566","name":"Sustainable Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brent.verrill@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EBrent Verrill\u003C\/a\u003E, Research Communications Program Manager, BBISS\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brent.verrill@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}