Page Back





Contents

HOME

Subscribe

Next Page
Others lost refrigeration of foodstuffs, the ability to use the phone or the internet, or in many cases, water.  In order to help those citizens, Chesterfield officials had to first know where they were.
 According to Nancy Parker, who is the GIS Manager for the county, Chesterfield requested a computer file of the addresses without electricity from Virginia Power.  The GIS staff matched that file to the county’s mapped addresses, and compared that to the mapped utility layer.  The county then knew not only who was without power, but also which homes were relying on private wells and were, therefore, without water.  The fire department delivered drinking water to those homes, and “the residents were very grateful,” said Nancy Parker.  
 She said that Virginia Power was surprised that the county had the ability to map the extent of the massive power outage on the fly.  According to her, “Once they understood what could be done, the GIS staff got regular updates every evening at 5:30.”  The county could track the restoration of power and provide assistance to the citizens who still needed it.
 After Isabel, inspectors photographed buildings that had been damaged.  The digital photos were linked to the county’s parcel layer using the address as a key, and the results used to show decision makers in both the county and the state the damage in each part of the county.
Everyone learned something from the Isabel experience.  Last year the Chesterfield GIS budget was trimmed and the usual printing of a set of map books for the county was cancelled.  As a result, the county had no current paper maps on hand and the maps the county gave FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Association) were two years out of date.  Nancy Parker said, “we weren’t anticipating this, and we at least need to have a way to get things done.  The GIS staff are programming for the production of the maps on the fly.  This way we can avoid the expense of printing map books, but retain the capability.”
 As in many other places, the Chesterfield County Government Complex lost power.  Power was restored to most of the complex in a short time, but the building housing the GIS was dark for one and a half days.  Yet, the GIS continued to function because the GIS data had been previously downloaded to laptop computers before the storm.  Maps were created on these machines and on computers that were moved to the utility department in a building with power and a functioning plotter.
PRINCE WILLIAM
 Prince William GIS staff are part of the team that is normally in the county’s emergency operations center.  The GIS staff mapped incidents as they occurred and prepared maps of flood plains before and during Isabel.  
 Because of some remodeling, the GIS was not in the EOC and was instead run from the GIS office.  When that office lost power, the generators were started, but couldn’t supply enough power for the entire operation.  According to GIS Manager Kathy Prescott, “it was a choice between a fan, a computer, or coffee.”  When communications bogged down, they resorted to sending couriers down the road to the EOC.
 According to Kathy Prescott, lessons learned were that the GIS needs to be present in the EOC, and they need a better way to predict flood events.  The county is acquiring the Hazards US software (HAZUS) developed for FEMA.  The HAZUS contains models for estimating potential losses from natural disasters including floods and hurricanes.  It estimates wind damage and flood damage to all classes of buildings and transportation infrastructure, vehicles, and crops, and predicts debris generation and shelter requirements.  
 The HAZUS is free and runs on top of GIS software the county already has.  The county is training staff to be certain they understand the data management model for HAZUS and are prepared to use it the next time.
PORTSMOUTH
 The Tidewater area felt the full force of Isabel in Virginia, and was one of the places where GIS was also most effective.  Mark Gardner is director of information technology for Portsmouth.  He said, “I was extremely impressed by our GIS staff and their ability to quickly respond.”
 On the morning of the 18th, the Governor issued an evacuation order for low lying areas.  The GIS staff immediately compared the predicted height of the storm surge to the city’s topography layer to find all the parcels that might be affected.  Each parcel had an address, and within one hour they had identified every address likely to be inundated.  Those addresses were fed to Reverse 911, which called the occupants, notifying them of the evacuation order.  The addresses were also posted on the city’s website, and were sent to the staff working the emergency phones.  According to Mark Gardner, “we couldn’t have done that in so short a time without GIS.”
 After the storm, GIS was used in damage assessment.  The city deployed building inspectors, assessors, and other professionals to determine the extent of the damage.  They reported back twice a day with their findings.  The GIS staff gathered the data, compiled the results, and interpreted the information so as to assess the condition of the city.  Mark Gardner said that the resulting information was used to identify areas of special need and to keep the leadership apprised of conditions as they unfolded.
 He also remarked that there were lessons learned.  The GIS was not running in the city’s EOC that night, but it will be the next time.  The plan will probably be to map citizens’ calls as they come in and project the results on a wall so that everyone there can see existing conditions.
The next time, “and there will be a next time,” he said, the city will do a better job of reporting the damage assessment to FEMA.  The GIS staff had mapped the damage assessments coming in, but could also have linked the information to addresses and, consequently, assessments.  That could have provided more detailed loss estimates on the fly.
PREPARING FOR THE NEXT TIME
 The Virginia Readiness, Response, and Recovery (VR3) program has received a $665,000 grant from a US Department of Homeland Security pilot program.  The monies will be used in part to host Virginia’s digital orthophotography at a secure website.   Other data, like roads and streams that