Ouachita Civil Defense Uses Internet/GIS to Better Prepare for Emergencies

When It Comes to Natural Disasters, There's No Such Thing as Too Much Planning

While many people enjoy seeing movies like Volcano, Twister, and other action-packed disaster films, the reality of a natural or technological disaster is anything but entertaining. No organization understands this better than the Ouachita Civil Defense Agency (OCDA), Ouachita Parish, Louisiana.

That's because OCDA spends its time, energy, and resources calculating data, designing plans, and educating other government agencies and the general public, all in an effort to be prepared as best possible in the event of a major technological or natural disaster.

The organization is now using GIS and the Internet to do groundbreaking work in emergency preparedness. This includes creating natural and technological disaster response plans; calculating risk areas for floods, tornadoes, chemical spills, and other catastrophes; and implementing long-term projects such as levee repairs and emergency response education programs.

By using GIS to manage, analyze, and visualize spatial data in a computerized environment, the agency not only is able to better use information, but also is working more closely with other emergency management programs throughout northeast Louisiana.

"When you can see what's out there—schools, daycare centers, nursing homes, hospitals, emergency shelters, the locations of homes, etc.—and apply your known hazards, then you can really understand how to mitigate, prepare, respond, and recover," says Tom Malmay, Ouachita Civil Defense director. "In addition, the ability to query or ask questions of our data gives us a great analysis tool. GIS and Internet technology combined provide us with the ability to post and or transmit analysis results to those that need them." It is understood that during a major disaster these tools may not be available. The value of GIS and Internet technology is primarily in the preparation, mitigation, and recovery phases.

Regional Evacuation Plan

In 1996 the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness (LOEP) made ArcView GIS available to its parishes along with training and data sets.

During the spring of 1997 there were heightened concerns for the Mississippi River levee system in northeast Louisiana. This was in addition to high water levels on the Ouachita River and other streams and bayous. Governor Foster declared a state of emergency March 4, 1997, due to heavy rains that had caused flooding and damage in the parishes of Louisiana to both private and public property. On March 6, 1997, Ouachita Parish declared a separate state of emergency at the local level in response to heavy rainfall and in support of levee problems.

In response to this dual state of emergency, personnel at OCDA and other emergency managers from northeast Louisiana realized that rather than developing separate plans for each parish, the optimal solution would be to develop one regional plan. Twelve parishes then blended together their disaster plans using ArcView GIS as the common denominator.

To address the concerns of the Mississippi River, a plan specific to the regional scenario would have to be developed. The regional plan would serve as a trigger mechanism for implementation of local plans. "From past experience we learned that we could do better planning if we worked together," says Malmay. "If we didn't work together, problems could arise. For instance, if we planned evacuation independently, that could create a scenario where we clog up roadways in safe areas and prevent evacuations from the risk areas."

Northeast Louisiana emergency managers, Louisiana State Police Troop-F, 5th Levee District, Tensas Basin Levee District, LOEP, and local governments joined together in a coordinated planning effort. The work started with a briefing from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), 5th Levee District, and the National Weather Service. The USACE presented the "chocolate tide" scenario and a map of areas they determined to be inundation areas (areas at risk if the Mississippi River were to overtop at a specified location). OCDA digitized the manual map and then brought it into the ArcView GIS environment.

Basemap, satellite, demographic, and other data sets, including airfields, hospitals, schools, nursing homes, waterways, roadways, railroads, and more had already been provided by Louisiana State University. Timeline data, or data that showed the water migration patterns based on the USACE chocolate tide presentation, were also brought into ArcView GIS.

"Analyzing timeline data can give us an approximation as to how far from a point along a river people need to travel before they will be safe," says Malmay. Parishes along the Mississippi River were designated primary risk areas, with parishes adjacent to primary risk areas flagged as secondary risk areas. Users then designated reception and shelter areas. The shelter areas were located in the western part of the State.

In addition, airfield locations, from crop duster airfields to major airports, were analyzed and displayed so that the OCDA would know the location of possible sites for transporting people and equipment by plane.

Command posts were then established on the perimeter of the inundation area and close to key facilities such as airfields and roadways. "We needed this base information if we were to develop a plan," says Malmay. "The plan isn't a complete or finalized document. It is something that we can start with and change for a specific, real-world problem. But without this starting point of information, we can't get off the ground when something really happens."

One complicating matter when generating analysis for northeast Louisiana was coming up with a way for parishes to work together using the same information. However, OCDA found its solution: the Web. Using the Internet to put spatial data on the Ouachita Web site provided a valuable tool not only for making data available to other parishes but also for making data available to other agencies and the general public.

"Before we presented our overall plan, the parishes had to agree on several different things," says Malmay. "So we put the spatial and attribute data on the Web. I don't know how many times we would be on the phone with someone in another parish looking at the same information on our Web site and making decisions."

Once data were analyzed and prepared, a comprehensive document was created and presented to a number of agencies. "Without GIS, we could not have made a number of key points when we went into our briefings," says Malmay. "We were able to provide valuable information to fire, police, and federal agencies. The data were easy to understand because they were in a map format. Plus, we worked in a coordinated effort and that was a major benefit."

Internet/GIS and Recovery

Following a major storm on May 27, 1997, ArcView GIS was used to generate an analysis of the damage area, and the OCDA placed the results on the Internet.

Then in a recent request for federal Small Business Administration disaster loan assistance, the governor of Louisiana referenced the OCDA Web site for its ease of access. "That was a surprise and an honor," comments Malmay. "You never think about what you're doing while you're doing it, but that little mention by the governor made me proud of our Web site."

Now GIS is used in a number of important applications, giving OCDA an advanced solution for its needs. GIS is used for providing valuable information to the public. For instance, ArcView GIS was used to create a map for the OCDA's annual spring tornado drill. This was made available on the Internet to support the public awareness campaign.

Perhaps equally important, after problems occur, information is uploaded to the Web where it can be easily viewed by local, state, and federal government agencies that must access data before allocating resources for response and recovery activities.

Data Set Households

Using a phone book program by ProCD, the OCDA exported phone records by ZIP Codes. Each record received an x,y coordinate. This enabled the agency to display these records in ArcView GIS. The records were then combined with TIGER files, hydrologic data, third quarter data, and local information.

Special thanks to Rick Foster, Tensas OEP; Janie Spann, West Carroll OEP; Earl Pinkney, Madison Parish OEP; Lt. Mark Wilson, Louisiana State Police Troop-F; and Morris White, Concordia OEP.

For more information, contact Tom Malmay, Ouachita Civil Defense Agency (tel.: 318-322-2641, fax: 318-322-7356, e-mail: civil@bayou.com, Web: www.bayou.com/~civil).