(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050903/NYSA026
Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040930/DCTH068LOGO-a )
The attached satellite image over Gulfport, Mississippi, gives context to the massive power of Hurricane Katrina by showing how far inland the Gulfport Casino now sits. The Casino which used to be anchored off-shore can be seen in the bottom center of the image resting on Highway I-90. The colossal steel frames and hulls of these floating casinos are now well inland, hurled across streets and parks by the waves. Casino gambling here provided jobs for 14,000 people. Mississippi's gulf cost casinos generated $500,000 a day in gambling taxes alone and every single casino has been wrecked.
ORBIMAGE was the first commercial satellite company to capture imagery over the affected area on Tuesday August 30, 2005 shortly after the levees broke in New Orleans causing the second wave of destruction for the city. ORBIMAGE has tirelessly supported the rescue efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina through the immediate dissemination of all available imagery to our customers electronically as well as through distribution of storage media to others to facilitate secondary dissemination. Our target is to reach those who work directly with federal and civil relief agencies and to provide others who have a need with this vital information, by making our imagery available through the media and on our own website. We have an aggressive collection campaign for the areas affected by Katrina. ORBIMAGE will have additional photo opportunities as our satellite passes over the Gulf coast several times in the next week.
ORBIMAGE has dedicated all of its available satellite collection time over the affected area to this effort. Satellite Imagery is being continuously posted on our website for anyone to access in support of rescue efforts and to help officials provide knowledgeable information. Please visit our website periodically throughout the next days in order to get updates on newly available imagery.
ORBIMAGE sends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to all of the people and communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina. It has been our experience so far that no one is untouched by this tragedy and we are anxious to be of any possible assistance to our fellow citizens of this great country.
ORBIMAGE encourages your media organization to use this imagery. Credit for use of the imagery should read "Courtesy of ORBIMAGE" or similar.
About ORBIMAGE
ORBIMAGE is a leading global provider of earth imagery products and services, with digital remote sensing satellites and an integrated worldwide image receiving, processing and distribution network. In addition to the high- resolution OrbView-3 satellite, which is capable of measuring, mapping and monitoring objects smaller than automobiles and spectrally differentiating thousands of land use/land cover types, ORBIMAGE also operates the OrbView-2 ocean and land multispectral imaging satellite and the SeaStar Fisheries Information Service, which provides maps derived from essential oceanographic information to aid in commercial fishing. ORBIMAGE also produces value-added imagery products and provides advanced photogrammetric engineering services at its St. Louis facility. The company distributes its products directly to the U.S. government for national security and related mapping applications. Commercial sales are primarily handled through a worldwide network of value- added resellers, regional distributors, sales agents, and select strategic partners. Over 10 million square kilometers of imagery has been collected since the launch of OrbView-3 in June 2003, which includes imagery of most of the world's capital cities, airports, and other areas of interest. The company is currently building a next-generation satellite, OrbView-5, to support the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's NextView image acquisition program. When OrbView-5 is launched in 2007, this next-generation commercial imaging satellite will acquire up to 700,000 square kilometers of imagery each day at the unprecedented resolution of 0.41-meters.
For more information about ORBIMAGE, please see our web site at http://www.orbimage.com.
CONTACT: Nancy S. Coleman, Manager, Marketing Communications,
+1-703-480-9580,
Email Contact
Web site: http://www.orbimage.com/
