{"id":685522,"date":"2024-07-24T15:36:27","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T22:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcwatch&p=685522"},"modified":"2024-07-24T15:36:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T22:36:27","slug":"in-the-wake-of-a-landslide","status":"publish","type":"arcwatch","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\/in-the-wake-of-a-landslide","title":{"rendered":"In the Wake of a Landslide"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":8132,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[237591],"tags":[489842,488482,30072,10332,489832],"arcwatch_issues":[489622],"class_list":["post-685522","arcwatch","type-arcwatch","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disaster-response","tag-department-of-transportation","tag-drone-mapping","tag-emergency-response","tag-imagery","tag-landslide","arcwatch_issues-july-2024"],"acf":{"short_description":"After a deadly landslide, the Alaska Department of Transportation used GIS and drone mapping to evaluate the damage and kickstart recovery.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"On November 20, 2023, heavy rainfall caused a landslide to descend onto the Zimovia Highway near Wrangell, Alaska, ultimately killing six people and forcing around 30 more to evacuate their homes. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, however, several people were still unaccounted for. Search and rescue operations kicked off immediately.\r\n\r\n\u201cMaterials Section staff were some of the first people on the ground responding to the Wrangell landslide, and they were there for weeks,\u201d said Ellie Hakari, GIS analyst for the Southcoast Region (SR) Materials Section, a division of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF). \u201cSome staff were there throughout the whole operation, and it just changed day to day, what we were doing, what we needed. We actively supported search and rescue operations, and then of course road repairs and disaster recovery.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe Materials Section deals with all aspects of DOT&PF\u2019s engineering and geospatial needs, from maintenance and operations to construction, acting as a kind of catch-all for engineering support throughout the agency. Because the group is increasingly using GIS technology for is operations, its staff is invaluable in emergency situations like the Wrangell disaster."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":687162,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"\u201cWhen you get a call for a landslide, you need to have tools that are readily available, that are easy to use, [and] that can be used in different ways by different people,\u201d said Mitchell McDonald, SR regional engineering geologist. \u201cIt\u2019s important to have those tools identified, to know how to use them, because once that emergency starts, it\u2019s chaos.\u201d\r\n\r\nBoots on the Ground\u2014and in the Air<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe first and most critical technological tool employed in response to the Wrangell landslide was drone imagery. With drones in the air, Materials Section staff could assist search and rescue teams on the ground as well as incident command.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhen we responded, a state trooper pulled up to the garage door where [avalanche and geohazard specialist] Pat [Dryer]\u2019s drone lab is and we completely filled the back of that thing with Pelican cases and drone equipment,\u201d said McDonald. \u201cIt takes a lot of resources.\u201d\r\n\r\nBack in the office, things were no less hectic. Hakari and David Oliver, SR GIS chief, were tasked with producing a map of the landslide for DOT&PF\u2019s communications team to put out to the public. They built the map with ArcGIS Pro. Soon after, they were asked to analyze building footprints of homes in the direct path of the landslide, which were paired with drone imagery layers using Site Scan for ArcGIS and ArcGIS Online. This allowed the team to visualize the flow of debris and where homes may have ended up after the landslide."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":686872,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"ArcGIS Field Maps was also used to support search and rescue efforts, and Hakari created a story with ArcGIS StoryMaps<\/a> where all this data could be accessed, including drone imagery.\r\n\r\nFollowing active search and rescue efforts, the SR Materials Section had no time to rest after the shock of the disaster and their hard work in the immediate aftermath. There was more to be done\u2014much more.\r\n\r\n\u201cOnce you get through the initial emergency response, then you\u2019re switching over to the recovery phase,\u201d said Travis Eckhoff, SR regional materials engineer. \u201cThat\u2019s where we start to look at, \u2018OK, what do we need to do to get things back to their pre-disaster condition?\u2019\u201d\r\n\r\nIn practice, this meant taking stock of any repairs that might need to be done on roads or utilities, and whether any other infrastructure had been impacted that would need to be addressed. The first step was clearing the landslide itself."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":686902,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"\u201cWe also included [surveys created with ArcGIS] Survey123,\u201d said Oliver. \u201cMost of those were post-emergency response, to try and document the amount of material that was being disposed of or dealt with.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn a landslide event that covers a larger geographical area, similar surveys might be done to track what happens to debris before and after a cleanup effort. The Wrangell event was fairly unique in that it was a single landslide that impacted a narrow area. In either case, tracking this information ensures that DOT&PF is reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for disaster response efforts.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s kind of the boring part that you don\u2019t really talk about,\u201d said McDonald. \u201c[But] the only reason we can do what we do is because there\u2019s funding available that starts with an emergency declaration. That\u2019s the critical link for us, with GIS\u2014our data collection center ultimately gets us that funding to do what we do and to continue monitoring.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":686882,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"A Fresh Scar<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn the wake of an event like the Wrangell landslide, even once cleanup efforts are well underway, continual monitoring of the area is crucial. Where one landslide occurs, another could soon follow, and the Materials Section needed to be ready to sound the alarm if staff noticed any sign of instability or dire weather that could lead to it.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe\u2019re doing weekly flights and we\u2019re looking for any changes that could impact our infrastructure within that landslide path,\u201d said Eckhoff. \u201cAre we seeing significant erosion? Are we seeing signs of additional slope movement?\u201d\r\n\r\nBetween drone imagery and other GIS technology deployed to monitor the area and its weather, the Materials Section team could be the first to know about any further disaster.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s a fresh scar,\u201d said McDonald. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what the ground is going to do now. It\u2019s in a whole new configuration. But we\u2019re also learning from it. Part of the problem with Alaska is that we\u2019re data poor. So part of this monitoring is [asking], \u2018OK, what\u2019s happening on the slope after this has occurred?\u2019\u201d\r\n\r\nWith drone imagery augmented by data from weather stations installed in the area, the team can monitor whether the ground is reacting in similar ways to other peak weather events, or whether it has stabilized in the time since the landslide. With more monitoring equipment in place, the Materials Section can not only more thoroughly document damage done in the event of a disaster, but also better prepare for future events."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":686852,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"\u201cWe can now do routine [drone] monitoring that\u2019s daily or weekly following storm events, snowfall events, and wind events,\u201d said Dryer.\r\n\r\nBut being able to collect all this data is one thing\u2014communicating and using it is another. As the Materials Section learns from their experience responding to the Wrangell landslide, they hope to make big strides in both of these areas.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe ability to use these tools for not just data collection, but data sharing, would be great in the future,\u201d said McDonald. \u201cIt would be great to integrate what we\u2019re collecting in the field straight into FEMA databases.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe team is also building a new geohazards program for the Southcoast Region\u2014and hopefully for the entire state\u2014that will use GIS tools such as ArcGIS StoryMaps and ArcGIS Hub to disseminate data and educate communities about landslide risks.\r\n\r\n\u201cBut without David and Ellie heading up our GIS department, none of what we did would have been possible, regardless of what tools were available,\u201d said McDonald. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have been able to deploy them and use them. That\u2019s one of the biggest takeaways: how important it is to have the capability to use all these tools. The analyst\u2014that\u2019s the most important GIS tool we used.\u201d"}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"\nIn the Wake of a Landslide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After a deadly landslide, the Alaska Department of Transportation used GIS and drone mapping to evaluate the damage and kickstart recovery.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\/in-the-wake-of-a-landslide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In the Wake of a Landslide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After a deadly landslide, the Alaska Department of Transportation used GIS and drone mapping to evaluate the damage and kickstart recovery.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\/in-the-wake-of-a-landslide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Esri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2024\/07\/wrangell-landslide-wide2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Esri\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\/in-the-wake-of-a-landslide\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\/in-the-wake-of-a-landslide\",\n\t \"name\": \"In the Wake of a Landslide\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2024-07-24T22:36:27+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"After a deadly landslide, the Alaska Department of Transportation used GIS and drone mapping to evaluate the damage and kickstart recovery.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\/in-the-wake-of-a-landslide#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\/in-the-wake-of-a-landslide\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\/in-the-wake-of-a-landslide#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"ArcWatch Articles\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"In the Wake of a Landslide\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Esri\",\n\t \"description\": \"Esri Newsroom\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/e60e24920b007ddc82488e84e5138af4\",\n\t \"name\": \"Ben Van Voorhis\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bsmith-profile-2-768x768.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bsmith-profile-2-768x768.jpg\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Ben Van Voorhis\"\n\t },\n\t \"description\": \"Ben Van Voorhis is the editor of ArcUser, and the former editor of Esri's ArcWatch publication. 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