Volume 6, Issue 3

Oct 2011

PDC Highlights

Response to Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene caused extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean and up the east coast of the United States and Canada. From early on, when the disturbance was “a dangerous Atlantic Tropical Wave,” through its life as Hurricane Irene, PDC actively provided modeling and mapping of potential impacts, maps identifying critical infrastructure at risk, and subject matter expert support to national and state emergency management agencies. Read more… Organizations supported included the National Emergency Management Agencies of the Dominican Republic and The Bahamas; the Embassy of the U.S. to Nassau, Bahamas; U.S. military units concerned with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief; and countless other organizations. PDC also published public alerts about Irene from Aug. 22 through Aug. 28.

APEC Meetings in Vietnam and San Francisco

While the attention of the world is riveted on the November 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meetings in Honolulu, APEC members meet at a variety of venues year round. PDC is an active member in APEC’s Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG) and participated in two of their major events during the third quarter of 2011. September 21-23, Deputy Executive Director Chris Chiesa participated in the APEC’s Fifth Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum in San Francisco, attended by directors of national disaster management agencies from the 22 APEC countries. He briefed the attendees on PDC’s use of social media and mobile apps for hazards alerting on a panel that also included Twitter’s Director of Social Innovation & Executive Leadership and the City of San Francisco’s Director of the Division of Emergency Services. Earlier, in July, Chiesa also participated as an invited speaker at the APEC Workshop on Facing the Abnormal Flood Disaster, in Danang, Vietnam, where he was joined by PDC Southeast Asia Program Advisor Nathan Sage. The event was attended by nearly 100 representatives from more than 15 APEC economies. Read about another PDC-APEC project here.

NASA Scientists to Help Predict Earthquakes

NASA Scientists have been working with their PDC counterparts to evaluate whether their newly developed infrasound sensor technology can help predict earthquakes and other hard-to-detect (in advance) hazards. NASA’s ultra-low-frequency acoustics system which was originally developed for probing other planets, may offer revolutionary benefits in detecting microbursts associated with earthquakes, tornados, and other potentially hazardous phenomena. To evaluate the feasibility of such an approach, lead Scientist Dr. Qamar Shams and Project Director Dr. Albert DiMarcantonio of NASA Langley Research Center visited PDC headquarters on Maui, during the week of September 26. They were then joined by PDC Chief Scientist Stanly Goosby to travel to Oahu to present briefings to military groups and Hawaii State Civil Defense. They also traveled to the Big Island of Hawaii to meet with scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory where they set up their sensors to collect several hours of acoustics data. The visit ended on Oahu with a demonstration of the sensors for the NOAA National Weather Service Pacific Region Headquarters. NASA is not all about deep space. See the links in this disaster management for kids story.

Meeting with Minister Plodprasop Regarding Support for Thailand Floods

PDC’s senior management met on two separate occasions with the Honorable Dr. Plodprasop Suraswadi, Minister of Science and Technology for the Kingdom of Thailand, to discuss possible PDC support for the severe flooding in Thailand. Dr. Plodprasop, the former Executive Director of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), had worked with PDC previously to establish the nation’s first earthquake-tsunami warning system following the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami (2005-2006). PDC had also proposed in 2008 to extend its multi-hazard DisasterAWARE platform for flood warning, and the project was approved for funding for the U.S. government. But, subsequent changes in the Thai government and in the NDWC management prevented the project from going forward. Dr. Plodprasop met first in late August with PDC Chief Scientist Stanley Goosby and Dr. Cherdsak Virapat, Executive Director of the International Ocean Institute (IOI), and then with PDC Executive Director, Ray Shirkhodai, in late September. Minister Plodprasop thanked PDC for its long-time support and indicated his advocacy to re-establish its relationship with PDC to collaborate on better flood early warning.

Multinational Exercise in Mongolia

PDC Senior Geospatial Information Analyst Todd Bosse participated in a Multinational Planning Augmentation Team (MPAT) exercise called Tempest Express 20 (TE-20) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, August 15–24. The aim of the exercise and associated workshop was to improve coordination of pre-disaster communication and post-disaster response efforts between the Mongolia and foreign military responders, including those from the U.S. The scenario for this exercise was based on a hypothetical “significant earthquake in the Ulaanbaatar area.” The exercise was hosted by the Government of Mongolia (GoM) and attended by civilian and military officials and planners from 17 other nations and a number of U.N. agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGO); and Red Cross/Red Crescent officials. Bosse compiled and created GIS and graphic products for the exercise, including data provided by local and international organizations, and incorporated these into PDC’s DisasterAWARE. He also provided two DisasterAWARE training sessions for exercise participants who then used the system throughout the exercise.

BioServ Information Services

Emerging infectious disease outbreaks are among the greatest challenges in disaster preparedness and public health. The increased mobility of modern populations means that infectious disease outbreaks spread faster and affect larger populations. PDC has partnered with U.S. Army Public Health Command and U. S. Naval Medical Research Unit in developing solutions to these growing challenges, including a web-based biological surveillance information service, or BioServ. The goal is to use PDC’s DisasterAWARE technology to bring together human, animal, and environmental data in order to map and visualize disease information. This will facilitate informed decision making and support the fastest and best responses possible. Resources already incorporated in BioServ include the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Travel Outbreak Notices, World Health Organization (WHO) Influenza Laboratory Surveillance Information, information from HealthMap, the Pacific Syndromic Surveillance System, and Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network. Read more about BioServ.

Release of DisasterAWARE 4.1.2

On August 12, version 4.1.2 of DisasterAWARE was released, delivering numerous new data sources and exciting new features, including user preference settings for Spanish and Vietnamese (with more languages to follow). DisasterAWARE is the flagship technology of PDC, and the foundation of the Center’s information-sharing and decision support systems including the Global Hazards Atlas, the Disaster Alert mobile app for Apple and Android devices, and numerous custom applications for disaster management professionals. The system continually “listens” to trusted data sources for hazard warnings around the world, providing real-time, multi-hazard monitoring.

Collaboration with COE DMHA

In June, PDC Geospatial Information Specialist John Livengood provided geographic information systems (GIS) capacity training to PDC’s long-time partner in the Pacific, the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (COE DMHA). The two Centers also used the opportunity to collaborate on a tsunami preparedness exercise being organized by COE DMHA. PDC provided the tsunami mapping and damage assessment products for the August 22 exercise. PDC’s contribution to this effort was facilitated by its longstanding relationship with the Republic of Fiji (see article about a presentation to the Prime Minister of Fiji and his cabinet on tsunami hazards provided by PDC in 2003).

PDC Support to Community Organizations

In addition to PDC’s continuous support to key disaster management institutions in Hawaii—Hawaii State Civil Defense and the county civil defense agencies—the Center actively engages with other community groups. During this quarter, PDC has given presentations at Rotary Clubs, provided disaster management experts as guests on Maui radio programs (KAOI and KNUI), and developed geographic information systems (GIS) products for the Ewa Beach Disaster Committee, a Waipahu community information meeting, map support for the Kahana Valley Community Association, and participated in such events as the Ewa Beach Emergency Preparedness Fair and the Kailua community tsunami exercise. If PDC has not spoken to your community group, you can get an idea of what the Center does by exploring updates and stories on the PDC website.

Most local presentations are done by PDC experts who travel to meetings around the state. However, sometimes, groups from the local community come to PDC. On September 1, PDC hosted a group of senior citizens from Kaunoa Senior Center in Paia, Maui. The visitors say that knowing what is being done to mitigate disaster impacts gives them peace of mind. We should all be prepared for disaster, of course.