GALVESTON, Texas (March 3, 2026) – Well-known weather expert “Hurricane Hal”
Needham, Ph.D., will present “Wind & Water – Perspectives on Galveston’s Hurricane
Risk” as part of the Galveston College 2025-26 Lecture Series “Discovering Galveston’s
Environment” on March 18 at 7 p.m. in the Abe & Annie Seibel Wing at the college’s
main campus, located at 4015 Ave. Q. in Galveston. The event is free and open to the
community.
“Hurricane Hal” Needham is director of Extreme Weather and Disaster Science at
GeoTrek, where he specializes in data-driven risk analysis for disaster-prone
communities. His unique approach of analyzing risk is evident in his “Recipe for Risk
Analysis,” which he developed to prepare disaster-prone communities for a wide range
of hazards.
Needham has conducted extensive field work in 23 hurricanes and tropical storms,
extensive hail field work in thunderstorms, extreme winter weather work related to
heavy snow loads and cold temperatures, extreme rainfall events in multiple states, and
international field work ranging from hurricanes in Mexico to earthquakes in Greece and
Morocco.
He has published numerous peer-reviewed papers on topics related to extreme flood
analysis and has been featured as an expert on mainstream media, including BBC,
PBS, The Weather Channel, CNN, Fox Weather and other sources. He also hosts the
GeoTrek podcast, a top-rated podcast on the topic of natural disasters.
For more information about the 2025-06 Galveston College Lecture Series, contact
Hank Deslaurier at 409-944-1327, or by email at hdeslaurier@gc.edu.
ABOUT GALVESTON COLLEGE
Galveston College was founded in 1967 and is a comprehensive community college
providing the residents of Galveston Island and the surrounding region with academic,
workforce development, continuing education and community service programs.
