Hurricane Ivan, 4 P.M., September 15, 2004

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) is responsible for the maintenance and development of the state's roads and intermodal transportation. For this reason, it must monitor all efforts to provide information to anyone who is using or planning to use these assets.

During an emergency, this difficult task can expand to other agencies that will require coordinated information technology and dissemination. GIS technology can provide both. LADOTD information technology is the focal point for GIS in this agency and works with other agencies and subagencies to ensure that the technology is understood and used efficiently and effectively. In recent hurricane evacuation drills and actual emergencies, the maps developed from Esri software have been used to warn the public of impending storms.

The Louisiana Coastal map gives a visual depiction of how much of Louisiana's coastline will be inundated during a storm and the effect of the storm surge on the coast. The Louisiana Evacuation Routes map was used to identify the routes to be used during the hurricane and the direction of travel. Notices of the location and wind rings of the hurricane were created with the GIS at regular intervals during the emergency. This information was then transmitted on the Web (ArcIMS) and over the other communication channels to cooperating agencies (state police, the Office of Emergency Operations, health department, the governor, and local and private users who had access. The success of these drills and actual emergency operations was credited to the GIS section of the agency and its use of the Esri toolbox.