Storms like Harvey and Irma make great demands on mapping technology in preparing for the winds and rain, to help plan rescue efforts, and in the aftermath to show what has been damaged, what roads are clear and to provide insurance information.
Esri, a global leader in combining mapping and data, is used by thousands of government agencies and insurers around the world. The privately held company has created the Esri Disaster Response Program to provide help to organizations that can benefit from it.
Ryan Lanclos, public safety team lead for Esri, said the company’s disaster response team is currently very active in support of users across the devastated areas.
“Even before Harvey’s landfall, Esri mobilized direct assistance to our users, including the Red Cross and the Texas Department of Emergency Management, and FEMA," said Lanclos who lives in the metro Houston area. “We are also working closely with volunteer groups including GISCorps and others to provide the right level of support and professional services.”
The company works with AccuWeather to show where a storm winds and water surges are likely to hit and how high the water will rise in specific areas.
“The program supports immediate requests from our customers, and helps us better understand specific workflows including debris management, inspections, damage assessments, windshield survey, common situational awareness and drone capture,” said Lanclos.
Its material on Harvey included traffic and alerts, road closures, shelter locations, rain forecasts, and crowdsourced photos. It also uses data like real-time traffic from Waze, and post-event imagery from Vexcel can have a profound impact on communities who are responding and recovering from a disaster.
Esri worked with the International Association of Fire Chiefs to use an application it stood up on Aug. 29. It provides a commander’s view of data collected from rescue teams. Since then there have been over 170 surveys completed and 20 plus rescues from more than 20 teams from California, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, the company said.
“Now, IAFC is taking the app they created and getting ready for Irma,” said Karen Richardson, public relations manager at Esri. “They have applied the lessons learned and are ready to respond more quickly for the next storm. GIS provides the ability to do more than visualize data about the community, it provides the ability to analyze and understand where the community is vulnerable to disasters. What areas at risk from flooding? What infrastructure is within this area? Where is the most at-risk population? These questions allow decision makers to focus on where limited resources and funding should be applied to protect property and save lives.”
The mapping and data can also be used to fortify buildings and infrastructure to reduce damage from future storms. Esri also works with insurance and reinsurance companies. Munich Re uses storm forecasts to transport and store very valuable vintage and custom cars in secure facilities beyond a storm’s reach.
