April 17, 2012 -- Every year communities across America are faced with natural disasters, such as floods, tornados, ice storms, fires and earthquakes. Not only are the economic losses of these disasters staggering (The U.S. saw more billion-dollar natural disasters in 2011 than any other year on record), the recovery effort to ensure that residents have electricity and clean drinking water can be a daunting task.

This webinar focuses on utilizing GIS data for disaster mitigation, prevention and response. The role that GIS can play in an emergency situation is multi-dimensional. Aerial photography and land records can be analyzed to determine the location and capacities of storm shelters or identify alternate emergency routes, utility data can be shared with first responders so that teams can efficiently assess a disaster situation and dispatch field crews, GIS data can be backed up offsite to ensure that valuable utility data is never lost in a disaster, and response crews can identify where above-ground utilities were once located if infrastructure is destroyed or moved.

Video:  GIS Mapping for Mutual Aid: Being Prepared

GIS is a tremendous tool for improving disaster preparedness and response. At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to understand the benefits of accurate GIS data when disaster strikes and be able to articulate different plans and scenarios for disaster response and mitigation.

About the Author / Presenter

Kirk Larson is Midland GIS Solutions' Vice President of Operations. He is involved with client development, project management, enterprise GIS development and implementation, and workflow studies. Before his time at Midland GIS, Kirk developed a nationally recognized enterprise-wide GIS program for the growing county of Sarpy County, Nebraska where he served as GIS Coordinator from 2002 to 2005.

View more info about Midland GIS at www.midlandgis.com.

Read about Midland's Integrity web GIS solution here: www.integritygis.com.