Despite the clueless leadership of FEMA, it appears that lower level employees at FEMA where acutely aware of the vulnerability of the Gulf Coast. "Ready for the storm" in the July 5th issue of Government Computer News details preparations for and reasons behind IT projects at FEMA.
A year ago, federal officials thought their IT systems were stout enough to cope with data demands brought on by the torrent of hurricanes expected to hit the Atlantic seaboard.
But then came Charley, a category 3 hurricane with winds of more than 131 mph; Frances, another category 3 storm; and finally Ivan the terrible, a category 5 storm with 165 mph winds that caused more than $16 billion in damage along the Atlantic seaboard and threatened to plunge New Orleans below the sea--all in the first four months of 2004.
The article goes on to detail some of the improvements in IT enacted to deal with the shortcomings identified in 2004
We have more than 200 layers [of data in the GIS], at different levels and different scales," Oporto said.
The agency itself provides information layers, such as data about flood plans and flood insurance, telephone registration for disaster benefits, and satellite imagery. FEMA uses licensed data for layers such as ZIP code boundaries, congressional districts, business locations and street information.
After hurricanes, FEMA workers will use the newly enhanced GIS to review maps helpful in response and recovery operations, such as those showing the status of electricity network repairs, emergency response teams, disaster zone boundaries and disaster benefit applicants.
Who will use this information?
FEMA's recent GIS upgrades are designed to improve the process for generating disaster maps. "These maps are used all the way from the president of the United States to the end user in the field," FEMA CIO Barry West said.
Yep, Nobody would have anticipated those levys breaking.