Hurricane Ike hitting the coast of Texas in 2008.

(NASA)

At a Glance

Researchers from Rice University say Houston's next big hurricane could be the city's "doom."The imaginary hurricane — dubbed "Hurricane Isaiah" — could conceivably be one of the worst disasters in U.S. history.

Houston's next hurricane could be the city's "doom," researchers say.

According to a report by the New York Times, researchers from Rice Universitybased on models and research, which they are calling "Hurricane Isaiah."

The researchers say will likely be one of the worst disasters in U.S. history, adding that it's only a matter of time before the imaginary becomes reality.

"Isaiah is basically Hurricane Ike ,"Jim Blackburn, co-director of Rice’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disaster (SSPEED) Center, told KHOU.com. "We wanted to create a larger storm and put it in the worst conditions to see what our vulnerability is. Our vulnerability is immense. We are very vulnerable to a big hurricane."

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Blackburn's worst-case scenario takes into account what the storm surge from a big hurricane could do to the Houston Ship Channel’s petrochemical complex and the people who live near it.

"We think with a 25-foot surge, you'd be looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 million gallons of oil and hazardous substance being spilled. That would devastate Galveston Bay," Blackburn told KHOU.com. "A 25-foot surge would cover the entire Clear Lake area. It would flood the Houston Ship Channel all the way to downtown Houston."

In anticipation of the next major hurricane to hit the area, ideas have been floating around for years to protect the city from a devastating hurricane, including the construction of a coastal spine called the "Ike Dike" or measures to enhanceleveesthat are already in place.

Unfortunately, as Blackburn points out, there’s still no funding in place for those projects, which could cost several billion dollars.

"We really haven’t come up with the right combination of the politics, money and the right ideas, and the environmental reviews to be in a position to finally move forward. But we’re getting closer all the time," Blackburn told KHOU.com. "The hardest thing to ask any of us to do is to spend money on something that may not happen for another 20 years or 30 years. It’s not until after it happens that it seems real. Then it’s too late."

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Chris Moore walks down Martin Luther King Blvd. on October 12, 2016 in Lumberton, North Carolina. Hurricane Matthew's heavy rains ended over the weekend, but flooding is still expected for days in North Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)