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Project Goal

Delta State University, the MS Dept. of Environmental Quality, GIS Corps, and numerous other geospatial professionals responded to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency's Jackson Emergency Operations Center to assist with the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Critical functions such as the translation of street address to lat/long, the production of maps for emergency responders, and the fielding of GPS and forward support teams helped save numerous lives in our communities.

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Business Problem Solved

The geographic scope of the Katrina event in Mississippi was overwhelming and the range of emergency types associated with the destruction seemingly endless. The production of maps provided not only a tool for guiding rescuers, but the provision of a common operational picture for decision makers (a picture is worth a thousand words and map is a picture).

Technology Implemented

The full range of geospatial technologies was used, including ArcGIS, ArcIMS, ArcSDE, nearly every extension ESRI manufactures, Citrix, ERDAS IMAGINE, GPS, etc.. In effect, an enterprise GIS was built from the ground up in support of thousands of emergency personnel in a matter of days.

Development Team Biography

There are too many people to whom a debt of gratitude is owed to mention here - more than 60 wonderfully skilled professionals responded to Jackson in the first 10 days of Katrina. Both Delta State University and the MS Dept. of Environmental Quality are grateful for their sacrifice and dedication to helping the citizens of our State.