The North Carolina National Guard Leads with GIS to Respond to Hurricane Helene

On September 25, 2024, the North Carolina National Guard (NCNG) was mobilized to support response efforts for Hurricane Helene. Soldiers and Airmen were immediately deployed to prepare for the storm and conduct lifesaving missions, including evacuations by air and high-water rescues.

In the aftermath of the hurricane, as the extent of the damage became clear, NCNG’s mission shifted from immediate response to long-term recovery. It partnered with state and federal agencies to support recovery operations—an uncommon mission, but critical role.

To ensure a coordinated effort, the NCNG relied on geographic information system (GIS) technology to streamline recovery and enhance collaboration among all responding agencies.

Hurricane Helene’s path created extensive damage to critical infrastructure, resulting in high volumes of debris. The NCNG was activated to develop a debris removal plan and assist in creating plans to restore roadways. The foundation for this operation was inspired by the ArcGIS Solutions Emergency Debris Management configuration.

“The Emergency Debris Management solution gave us a starting place versus starting from scratch,” explained Ian McIntosh, geospatial engineer technician, 125D, National Guard. “This was especially important because I got the call on Wednesday that we were going to state active duty until the following Monday. The group of two geospatial engineers’ technicians only had five days to create and roll out a plan for debris management.”

Prior to launching the debris management workflow to crews, the NCNG geospatial engineers collaborated with teams from the NCNG Engineer Assessment team in Buncombe County and Rutherford County to conduct a trial. Field assessments were sent out using ArcGIS Survey123 to collect data, which was then integrated into the solution to evaluate its effectiveness. Based on feedback, the NCNG geospatial engineers made rapid enhancements to improve user functionality and ensured the solution was ready for deployment by the required date.

With the introduction of the Debris Management solution, GIS quickly became a foundational tool for how NCNG led the recovery workflows. The mission soon expanded beyond debris removal to damage assessment.

“We expanded the use of GIS by creating a portal named North Carolina National Guard Disaster Recovery Assessment Portal using ArcGIS Experience Builder. This was helpful because it helped us keep track of our mission in real time,” said Emilio D. Trevino, geospatial engineer technician, 125D, National Guard.

The portal allowed the NCNG to lead recovery efforts across seven key areas tailored to North Carolina’s needs: Assessment, Wildfire Mitigation, Incident Analyst Assessment (IAAC Assessment), Helene ENG SPT Table Data, Geospatial Common Operating Picture (GCOP), Partner Dashboard, and a Help & Training area. All data collected in these areas was formatted to fit the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) and North Carolina Office of Emergency Management’s standards

The assessment initiative focused on evaluating debris, bridges, and roadways. NCNG geospatial engineers created a dashboard with ArcGIS Dashboards to organize the mission by using fire districts to identify participating agencies, including the United States Army Corps of Engineers, NCNG, municipal governments, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The dashboard shows an overview of the key performance indicators (KPIs), such as assessments completed per agency and total debris volume, to support reimbursements.

Another key initiative was the Incident Analyst Assessment (IAAC) ArcGIS Dashboard. The dashboard was designed to assign the corresponding agency to specific tasks based on the type of work requested and completed across all partner agencies, including local contractors.

“Our goal was to provide clear understanding in the IAAC Dashboard so we were not causing confusion which can happen during a large recovery effort,” said Trevino. “The IAAC dashboard was helpful because it provides full levels of details for those who were interested in specific incidents,”

An additional key focus was creating the Geospatial Common Operating Picture (GCOP). Using ArcGIS Instant Apps, the geospatial engineers aggregated data from all the partner agencies involved in the recovery. Key users of the application included members from the private sector, as well as municipal, state, and federal government agencies.

The final—and largest—focus was ensuring that all NCNG personnel had access to the GIS solutions and applications being used. A top priority for the geospatial engineers was making sure the North Carolina National Guard Disaster Recovery Assessment Portal was user-friendly to both non-GIS staff and professional GIS users.

Both McIntosh and Trevino emphasized that, given the number of partnering agencies involved and the uncertainty around who was familiar with GIS, it was essential to provide training resources. They noted that training videos created by Sergeant LaBelle played a crucial role in breaking down barriers to understanding GIS.

Within just two months, the field debris assessment crews had identified over 1,000 assessments, collaborated with 18 agencies, and enhanced situational awareness to drive efficiency in Hurricane Helene’s recovery efforts.

“Our goal was to be efficient and provide impact to our mission,” said McIntosh. “North Carolina’s Major General Hunt and Chief of Staff were extremely pleased with the GIS work we did as it attributed to our level of effectiveness as a team with other agencies.”

GIS is now being rolled out within NCNG’s standard workflows and missions.

We would like to share a special thank you to the North Carolina National Guard 12Y and 125D (geospatial engineers) that supported these efforts: CW2 Cerrato, SPC Cotiaux, SSG Patergin, SGT LaBelle, SPC Davis, SPC Perry, the IAAC team, and Engineer Assessment team.