01 Dec Using GIS to Aid in Emergency Planning
Preparing for natural disasters and creating plans on how to recover from them is a must for every city, no matter how large or how small, all over the world. One such city which is engaged in these tasks is Plymouth, located in the United Kingdom. In order to accomplish this, the city is using a GIS Technology from GGP Systems to help create and produce emergency planning and recovery maps.
Some disasters for which the emergency planning and recovery maps are being prepared for include the following scenarios:
1) Flooding;
2) Major weather extremes;
3) Potential terrorist attacks;
4) Nuclear disasters.
Apart from this, another major objective for GGP Systems is to help the city of Plymouth identify geographic sites where a potential major incident could occur (whether natural or man-made). Some of these ‘danger’ sites include:
1) Ammunition sites;
2) Gasoline distribution centers and hubs;
3) Oil terminals;
4) Devonport Dockyard (this is a naval station which houses and refuels nuclear submarines).
These ‘high risk’ sites are then mapped with the GIS technology provided by GGP Systems and subsequently inputted into the City of Plymouth’s database and tagged. In case a disaster should occur, these tagged locations will immediately appear with the relevant evacuation details for the citizens to follow, in order to help minimize loss and casualties.
Apart from these mapping exercises with the City of Plymouth, GGP Technology has also been involved with conducting real life evacuation scenarios, such as a containing a radioactive leak from the city’s naval station.
Government entities have been using GIS technology for decades. GeoTel Communications offers fiber network maps, fiber lit buildings, and other fiber data sets to assist in analyzing fiber infrastructure in a spatial, map-like environment. If you are interested in obtaining fiber network maps for a particular city or metro area, contact GeoTel Communications at (800) 277-2172 or visit us at www.geo-tel.com
