Emergency/Disaster Management

GIS technology is a powerful tool to assess potential emergencies; where they are likely to occur; and their potential impacts, damage, and losses. It is a core component of situational awareness for the common operating picture (COP) that is used for daily operations. The COP integrates incident locations, tracking, sensors, video, traffic, hospital status, weather, and other dynamic data with GIS data (imagery, elevations, streets, critical infrastructure, etc.). When emergencies occur, GIS produces relevant content and capability for incident action plans, damage assessment, and information sharing. GIS supports all phases of emergency management [PDF] including mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Mitigation

GIS technology enables managers to conduct complex emergency management analysis showing

• Where hazards exist
• Emergencies and their impact on vital infrastructure and population centers
• Emergency management plans and mitigation strategies

Preparedness

GIS provides capabilities and support for preparedness including

• Site selection for adequate evacuation shelters
• Evacuation routes
• Key facilities (hospitals, public safety facilities, public works, etc.)
• Command and control information systems that
• Maintain and display the status of emergency and nonemergency events.
• Maintain and display the status of public safety resources.
• Support interactive placement or processing of dispersion model (plumes) map views and analyze consequences.
• Determine intersections that should be closed (based on incident perimeter or plume) and transportation routes that avoid closures.
• Import and display damage assessment with the capability to integrate data from mobile devices.

Response

GIS plays an essential role in the response to emergencies as follows

• Emergency notification and alerting
• Evacuation routing and shelter locations
• Enhanced decision-making capabilities and situational awareness
• Common operating picture
• Information and incident status briefings

Recovery

Recovery activities take place after an emergency and include

• Short-term recovery—Immediate actions required to repair and maintain operations
• Long-term recovery—Strategic planning required to restore facilities to original condition or better

GIS technology is essential for recovery efforts such as

• Identification of damage (triage based on degree of damage or complete loss)
• Assessing overall critical infrastructure damage
• Monitoring progress by specific location of reconstruction efforts both for long-term and short-term needs
• Publishing maps of recovery progress to the public and to government organizations

Case Studies on Community Safety, Earthquake Preparedness, and Emergency Management.