Trending Topics

IAFC curates Hurricane Ian resources for first responders

A list of relevant and authoritative situational awareness resources for use by fire and EMS leaders

AP22271421504358.jpg

This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Ian off Florida’s southwest coast Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.

Photo/AP via NOAA

By FireRescue1 staff

CHANTILLY, Va. — The International Association of Fire Chiefs on Tuesday shared a curated collection of resources for fire and emergency services leaders responding to Hurricane Ian as it impacts Florida and other states.

The IAFC encourages readers to submit relevant and authoritative resources for consideration in the library. The list will be updated with new resources as the incident evolves.

The resource list currently includes the following:

FEMA Geospatial Resource Center

FEMA supports the emergency management community with world-class situational awareness information, geospatial services, and technologies to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate against all hazards. Access FEMA’s GIS Hub.

NOAA Hurricane Forecasts and Advisories

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center: For the most authoritative source for Hurricane Advisories visit the NHC website.

Florida Hurricane Ian GIS Resources

Florida Division of Emergency Management makes several key resources available to support disaster readiness and response efforts:

Esri Disaster Response Program

Esri’s Disaster Response Program (DRP) assists organizations responding to disasters or crises worldwide as part of their corporate citizenship. The DRP supports response efforts with GIS technology and disaster response expertise when an organization’s capacity is exceeded. Their Hurricane Page provides maps, datasets, applications and more to support hurricane preparedness and response efforts.

SARCOP

The IAFC continues to support state and local Search & Rescue Teams through our work with the SAR Common Operational Picture (COP) Tool for Search & Rescue Teams. Launched in 2016, SARCOP is a cornerstone for collaborative response to disasters where SLTT assets share near real-time data during response operations. The IAFC along with its partners National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation and ESRI, manage and maintain the SARCOP as a national response support tool. For more information visit the SARCOP webpage. Questions about the tools or the SARCOP can be sent to GISPrograms@iafc.org

HIFLD Open Data

Access nearly 400 geospatial data layers for our nation’s key infrastructure through the HIFLD Open website hosted by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in collaboration with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Publicly accessible infrastructure data can be used to support basic planning and situational awareness for mutual aid resources for all types of disasters, including hurricanes.

Get more IAFC resources here.