Geographic Information Systems Supporting Disaster Response and Recovery

Disasters do not comply with traditional geographic boundaries. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) enable policymakers and planners to overlay the impacted disaster areas over existing data sources to estimate the severity of the disaster on the area and to determine to what extent federal and local resources might be required to facilitate long-term recovery. GIS also enables policymakers to test the costs and benefits of policy options. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) used GIS more extensively than it had for any previous disaster to calculate risk of housing damage to HUD-assisted and HUD-insured housing and to estimate actual damage to all housing in the affected states. This analysis was critical for making decisions about how many resources for long-term recovery to use and where to target those resources. The analysis has also been critical for local officials in their design of programs that address the long-term recovery needs in their communities