The GEOINT Community Responds to Florence

Editor’s Note: We will continue to add to this post as extreme weather events on the East Coast unfold. Send your organization’s information to trajectory@usgif.org for consideration. 

Our latest cover story detailed how the U.S. crisis mapping community has advanced considerably from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to the many disaster response efforts the nation faced in 2017—from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria to the devastating California wildfires. The GIS and GEOINT communities are set to apply even more lessons learned as they respond to Hurricane Florence. Many organizations are providing free maps, data, and other resources: 

• The New York Times published an interactive piece Monday morning mapping Florence’s impact, including rainfall, wind, power failures, and more. 
• FEMA’s Hurricane Incident Journal, built as an Esri story map, provides relevant spatial decision-making support for FEMA leadership and a view into federal information available to the general public. 
• DigitalGlobe released two data sets to assist first responders and commercial organizations operating in the affected areas. As part of its Open Data Program, DigitalGlobe is publicly releasing data to support disaster response as it becomes available. 
• For those seeking GIS assistance, data, imagery, or technical support, Esri’s Disaster Response team and interactive hurricane maps, apps, and other resources can be accessed here. 
• Nonprofit Humanity Road issued a Hurricane Florence situation report, including a heat map in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard to provide social media situational awareness for impacted communities. The map is produced with the assistance of GISCorps and other partners including NAPSG. It is derived from social media posts collected and verified by Humanity Road. The heat map displays the density of requests for service throughout the affected region.
• Standby Task Force (SBTF) announced on Twitter it has activated its volunteer crisis mapping network to respond to Florence. Members are instructed to check the SBTF Slack channel for more information. 
• Spatial Networks’ Fulcrum announced on LinkedIn that it will waive licensing fees for customers seeking to use Fulcrum for hurricane rescue or recovery. Customers should reach out to their account executive for details.
• Harris Corporation made its Helios weather analytics platform free to provide real-time road condition updates for residents. To access, type “STORM” as the username and password.
• BAE Systems’ Geospatial eXploitation Products team is providing Team Rubicon, a nonprofit that leverages the skills of military veterans to provide disaster relief, with geospatial data and software solutions. Currently, Team Rubicon is using the GXP OnScene mobile application to capture field photos of the affected area and then view these real-time images along with additional geospatial layers to enhance situational awareness and improve response coordination. 
• This map provided by the National Hurricane Center and hosted on Esri’s ArcGIS shows areas placed under a storm surge warning or watch and also includes demographic and business data for areas affected by Florence.
• This hurricane conditions map produced by OpenStreetMap contributors shows the location of FEMA shelters.
• Planet announced it will be releasing imagery of areas affected by Florence here. 
• Mapbox is offering tech support and coupons to cover high map traffic. Get in touch here. 
• This map provided by the National Hurricane Center and hosted on Esri’s ArcGIS shows areas placed under a storm surge warning or watch and also includes demographic and business data for areas affected by Florence.
• This hurricane conditions map produced by OpenStreetMap contributors shows the location of FEMA shelters.

Image courtesy of NOAA