The time to prepare for a disaster is not while you are
experiencing it. The only thing you bring to the fight when it happens is
what you did to prepare for “something that will never happen”.
Fortunately, the GIS effort at Iowa Homeland Security &
Emergency Management has been proactive and provided statewide tools for anyone
who wishes to become engaged. Specifically, they have developed a series
of 10KM maps and 1KM urban mapbooks based on the FEMA and National Search and
Rescue Committee directives which mandate use of the U..S. National Grid (FEMA
Directive 092-5, October 15, 2015 and Land
Search and Rescue Addendum to the National Search and Rescue Manual,
Version 1.0 of Nov 2011, see Geo-referencing, pp 4-43 thru 4-51). NAPSG
cited below is also a big fan: https://www.napsgfoundation.org/hurricane-harvey-resources/
The quality of information available on these Iowa USNG
maps, is a direct result of the quality of the information that was provided by
the Iowa GIS community. Some areas are really good, some need some work.
So some points to ponder as you watch things unfold in
Texas:
- Did you know Iowa has an online map delivery system for disasters? An example site is here: https://ia.sharedgeo.net/index.html
- Did you know there are Iowa USNG map production standards?:
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NSE2XNlPdL36WcPOPYT8I_eUczs8wDFHdW3eqV1iYpQ/edit?usp=sharing
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_y9pqSnTXux5LUtiF9d8tNNtNETzxIAjZMBufV9BAmA/edit#heading=h.hzi5kg4r06mu
- If the answer is yes to both items above, what have you done to share this knowledge with members of your local first response community?
- And finally, as noted by NAPSG, when all other location references are gone, this still works: www.usngapp.org. Is your community ready to leverage that capability with maps, apps and dispatch? You don’t need to GUESS where individuals in peril are located.
If what is taking place in Houston bothers you, the way to
do something about it is by working locally to make YOUR community better prepared
for the future. Not often the geospatial community gets to lead and
provide answers. On this one you do. Learn everything you can about
U.S. National Grid and pass it along.
