Student’s research aims to help industry through the next hurricane
When Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina in 2018, it decided to stay awhile. The wind blew, and the rain fell for days. And though Cameron Doby didn’t experience major impacts from his home in Oxford in the central part of the state, his vivid memories of the pictures and video of coastal regions remain.
“I still remember the heavy rainfall, strong winds, flooding concerns and damage that affected communities across the state,” he said.
Cameron Doby received $1,500 to conduct research through the ECU College of Engineering and Technology. (Contributed Photo).
Now a senior construction management student at East Carolina University, Doby is teaming with Dr. Carol Massarra this summer to research storm mitigation in manufacturing facilities.
“The project will examine how manufacturing facilities are impacted by hurricanes in terms of environmental contamination risks, operational disruptions and potential pollutant releases,” said Massarra, an associate professor in the Department of Construction Management who will serve as Doby’s advisor on the project. “A key objective is to identify patterns of vulnerability and develop practical mitigation strategies that can reduce environmental and public health risks in future hurricane events.”
Doby, an ECU Honors College student, received $1,500 to conduct the research through the College of Engineering and Technology mini-grant program for new projects. Doby will start work on the research this summer in addition to his internship as a project engineer at the Fujifilm pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Holly Springs.
Hurricane History
Hurricane season in the Atlantic basin runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. The last landfalling hurricane to hit coastal North Carolina came in 2020 with Hurricane Isaias, but it was Florence two years earlier that many remember.
Florence came ashore at Wrightsville Beach near Wilmington on Sept. 14, 2018, and stalled, dropping 15 to 30 inches of rain in many areas from the South Carolina border to New Bern. Winds gusted to 100 mph in some areas. Waterways in the Tar, Neuse and Cape Fear river basins overflowed, flooding an estimated 74,563 structures. The storm killed 42 people and caused $16.7 billion in damage across the state, according to the National Weather Service.
In Greenville, the Tar River and its tributaries overflowed, flooding some streets and structures. Limbs and leaves covered ECU’s campus, with a few trees succumbing to Florence’s wind and rain.
Doby understands storms like Florence will do damage. He hopes the research results in less pollution from that damage.
“I hope this project results in a clear, well-supported research paper that raises awareness about hurricane-related pollution in manufacturing and industrial facilities,” he said. “More specifically, I want it to highlight what best practices should be in place and where gaps exist in real-world implementation.”
The Next Storm
Doby said the research would explore past storms, analyzing common sources of contaminated runoff and air pollution while identifying ways companies can better prepare their facilities for the next storm.
“The main purpose of the project is to bring more awareness to hurricane-related pollution and highlight the role construction and facility planning play in preventing it,” Doby said. “I also hope the research can encourage stronger preparedness and more practical prevention strategies in hurricane-prone areas.”
Doby said he looks forward to comparing the steps industries can take to prevent pollution during hurricanes to what is being done on real construction and manufacturing sites today.
“I’m interested in understanding how design, planning and operational decisions are intended to work in theory and then seeing how those practices are applied in real-world conditions,” he said.
A Personal Interest
Dr. Carol Massarra, associate professor in the Department of Construction Management.
Doby said he became interested in conducting the research after taking an honors seminar course on the global environment as well as a construction sustainability course.
“These courses helped me understand the relationship between human activity, the built environment and environmental impact on a global scale,” he said. “They also introduced me to how construction decisions can either reduce or contribute to long-term environmental problems. Connecting what I learned in those classes with real-world events like hurricanes made me interested in researching how industrial and manufacturing facilities can better prevent pollution during extreme weather.”
With a goal to become a project manager or superintendent on large-scale construction projects, Doby believes the research will serve him well in his career.
“I believe this experience will help me run more informed and sustainable job sites by being more aware of environmental risks and the steps needed to reduce them during both planning and construction,” he said.
He said it’s just one of the reasons he decided to attend ECU and major in construction management.
“I wanted a university that would allow me to gain both hands-on industry knowledge and academic experience through research and specialized coursework,” Doby said. “ECU was the one.”
A sheriff’s truck goes through flooded streets after Hurricane Florence in 2018. (ECU file photo by Cliff Hollis)