Wavebreaking News – Fall 2005

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Welcome to a special edition of Wavebreaking News, Response to Hurricane Katrina………brought to you by NOAA’s National Ocean Service.

Aerial Surveys Assess Hurricane Damage

The day after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey began flying photo survey missions to assess damage. NOAA made the photographs available immediately on the internet to help those most affected by the hurricane determine if their homes, businesses, and properties had been damaged or destroyed. Nearly five million photos were downloaded daily from NOAA Web sites in a one-week period. Companies like Google Earth, GlobeXplorer, and Telascience integrated the imagery into their Web service. Insurance companies began using the photos to help resolve claims. The oil and gas industry used the images to speed rebuilding its facilities. Over 8,300 images were taken during these missions, covering almost 1,600 miles of mile-wide flight lines.

Navigation Teams Investigate Submerged Hazards

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey deployed its largest contingent of navigation response teams in history to survey devastated Gulf Coast waterways. These teams are mobile emergency response units equipped and trained to survey ports and waterways immediately following a hurricane. They use sonar and divers to check for submerged obstructions that pose hazards to shipping. After Katrina made landfall, response teams surveyed several miles of the Mississippi River, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near New Orleans, Port Fourchon, Biloxi, and Pensacola, and the area around Gulfport, Mississippi. The surveys helped speed the re-opening of ports and waterways to allow the flow of much needed supplies and enabled commerce to return to the region.

NOAA Responds to Hundreds of Pollution Releases

NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration continues to evaluate nearly 400 reported pollution releases, numerous sunken vessels, and an unknown number of unreported hazardous material releases resulting from Hurricane Katrina. The response team is focusing on 16 significant spills, which experts estimate released seven million gallons of oil in and around the Mississippi River Delta. The team is also surveying damaged vessels in Mississippi and Alabama that may be leaking fuel and oil. Spill responders are flying missions to identify and document offshore sources of spilled oil. Information collected during these flights, when combined with weather and hydrologic data in computer models, helped to predict spill movement and to determine pollution threats. These activities support the Coast Guard’s spill containment and clean-up efforts.

Scientists Step Up Contaminant Monitoring

NOAA’s National Ocean Service is joining state and federal agencies to assess the magnitude and extent of environmental contamination brought on by Hurricane Katrina. Scientists are measuring contaminant concentrations in water, sediments, fish, and shellfish that are sampled in marshes, estuaries, and offshore areas. They are testing for pesticides, herbicides, nutrients, metals, flame retardant chemicals, hydrocarbons, biphenyls, and human pathogens. Of special concern is assessing the risk to human health of eating fish and shellfish from the area affected by the storm and ensuring seafood safety. Scores of sites throughout the affected region will be sampled both in the short term and for several years to come.

Thanks for watching...and for making this special edition of Wavebreaking News part of your coastal stewardship experience.