GIS: Examining the Little Details for Limitless Potential
BILOXI, Miss. -- A neighbor's home catches fire and a concerned citizen dials the local 911 operator. The operator immediately dispatches the call, but instead of arriving in 10 minutes, the crew runs into traffic at the Popps Ferry/Cedar Lake intersection and is delayed 15 minutes. The neighborhood watches in horror as the family's belongings continue to burn. What if a few technological updates could have allowed the fire crew to reach their call faster? Gulf Coast communities consider implications like these as they rebuild infrastructure for families returning home after Hurricane Katrina and for families looking to make new homes in new counties.
(Media-Newswire.com) - BILOXI, Miss. -- A neighbor's home catches fire and a concerned citizen dials the local 911 operator. The operator immediately dispatches the call, but instead of arriving in 10 minutes, the crew runs into traffic at the Popps Ferry/Cedar Lake intersection and is delayed 15 minutes. The neighborhood watches in horror as the family's belongings continue to burn. What if a few technological updates could have allowed the fire crew to reach their call faster? Gulf Coast communities consider implications like these as they rebuild infrastructure for families returning home after Hurricane Katrina and for families looking to make new homes in new counties.
"Communities are changing, people are relocating," said Bob Haywood, long term community recovery ( LTCR ) specialist for the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ). "The secondary impacts for other counties are just as critical as the lower three counties addressing direct impacts from the storm."
The LTCR program is about helping communities identify projects they deem critical to long term recovery and quality rebuilding, while re-establishing and even enhancing the quality of life for coastal Mississippi residents.
"LTCR, Geographic Information Systems ( GIS ), FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency ( MEMA ), and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality - we're working together to create a net, a system to help communities rebuild," said Haywood. "The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is required to work with the local governments. They in turn, give information to the state. The state comes to us and we bring everyone together to devise the best solutions tailored to the needs of the specific community."
GIS offers communities a method to identify trends, collect data and evaluate the potential impact of future projects. "GIS is an important tool for managing growth, a phenomenon most areas in South Mississippi are facing," said Anita Mitchell, FEMA GIS specialist.
When Harrison County planners begin looking at locations for a new fire department, they can use GIS to map incidents of fires in their county and identify major intersections that could make travel difficult for emergency vehicles. Haywood says it is long range planning done in extreme detail but he feels the end results for local communities are limitless.
"Katrina exposed how vulnerable and inadequate our drainage systems are. We didn't know about interior floodplain management, drainage, flooding, and flood prevention," said Jeff Taylor, planner for the City of D'Iberville. The city has utilized GIS for several projects. "One of our biggest priorities as we rebuild is to minimize the everyday flooding and practice everyday floodplain management, using GIS to support."
FEMA GIS staff provided Harrison County partial data maintenance and organized specific training for county employees, resulting in the county saving space for some GIS staff in the county's geodatabase course.
"All of those people down there in GIS have bent over backwards and helped us a whole heck of a lot with things related to flooding and drainage," said Taylor. "We needed a little guidance so we could use flood money and economic development money or any other funds available where we needed them most. We had to have a good game plan and the GIS guys and LTCR just fit in with that."
GIS also offers a chance for uniformity among communities that have the same GIS software and hardware. Local planners can communicate with each other and exchange valuable data. They can forecast issues and review a variety of solutions to address their particular needs and developments. Communities can thoroughly evaluate the location of the next water treatment plant, new housing development or disposal site.
"GIS is about managing growth and changes occurring at the local community level," said Mitchell. "The upper counties are seeing rapid development and they want to rebuild in a way that's practical, functional and sustainable."
GIS imagery and technology can help communities flesh out their long range plans and sometimes help them consider certain details that may have been previously overlooked.
Stone County has watched its population skyrocket in the past two years, highlighting a need for a rapidly expandable infrastructure to support a rapidly expanding population. GIS can help county officials manage their land use and zoning practices. The county received a FEMA Hazard Mitigation grant to develop a building standards and enforcement program that will house a new agency created specifically to oversee the county's GIS function.
FEMA GIS staff coordinated Stone County with the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services ( ITS ) to get specialized, technical consulting help the county needed to apply for funding grants
"We are feeling the secondary impact of the storm. In certain parts of the county, we need something more for potable water supplies and in other places we have to have better road connections," said Nell Murray, grant writer and project developer consultant for Stone County. "We're trying to provide physical and service infrastructure to accommodate this growth and be better prepared for future disasters."
LTCR connected the county with ITS to help build a plan for a GIS system.
"The LTCR is helping us identify long-and short-term projects to increase the county's revenue. The growth we're experiencing won't have a revenue impact for a few years," said Murray. "We've got to have some help; otherwise the county just cannot afford the needed infrastructure."
GIS staff recently coordinated with FEMA Mitigation to perform community outreach and education for the upcoming Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps. Several city staff members attended from local communities. "We wanted to lay all the cards out and get people up to speed," said Mitchell. "It can be a difficult transition and we're here to help make the process easier. We can also provide special manipulations of flood data for various groups."
The work of GIS and LTCR staff may help communities plan the fastest route for the local fire department and lay the groundwork for bigger, better futures.
"What we're doing in Mississippi is setting the stage for future FEMA recovery efforts and a brand-new, long-term approach," said Haywood.
FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
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This story was released on 2007-10-04. Please make sure to visit the official company or organization web site to learn more about the original release date. See our disclaimer for additional information.