The Sensor - September 2006

EIGS COMPANIES ONE YEAR AFTER KATRINA

After Katrina’s Waters Subsided: The Local GIS Response

Not only are NVision Solutions offices located at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi, among the hardest hit areas by Hurricane Katrina, the NVision staff all live along the Gulf Coast in Mississippi and Louisiana (one employee lost everything and several other employee’s homes or apartments were heavily damaged and unlivable for months).
As the staff of NVision Solutions made personal preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina, two employees were helping the St. Tammany Parish Emergency Operations Center (EOC) located in Covington, Louisiana. They were there in an effort to support REACT (Real-time Emergency Action Coordination Tool), a web based Decision Support System which includes a dynamic flood inundation model based on NVision's Emergency Decision Support Architecture. The St. Tammany EOC, which had to operate on generators throughout the storm, lost all communications and had no way of knowing the extent of Katrina’s wrath.

The NVision Solutions team

Immediately after the storm, Craig Harvey, CIO of NVision, made his way to Stennis and found the NVision offices in tact. From Stennis, he traveled to the State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Jackson, Mississippi to offer GIS assistance. Shortly afterwards, Craig was contacted by Mississippi State University and asked to support the GISCorp in Hancock County.

After regrouping, the NVision team began volunteering on September 7, 2005, in the makeshift Hancock County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at Hancock County High School with the entire company living out of two houses in Diamondhead, Mississippi. With assistance from Mississippi State University, they created a GIS Lab in a classroom using all of NVision’s equipment from Stennis plus a borrowed high-speed copier from the EIGS office located at Stennis. Harvey also secured two plotters, a map laminator, and a large format map scanner from USGS and ESRI. In addition to creating rescue and relief maps, NVision served as a print shop and tech support group for the EOC.

Although NVision is a small company, their flexibility enabled them to provide a lot of assistance at a time when the county needed it most. They created signs to direct traffic, helped storm survivors find distribution centers, acquired indoor cell phone boosters to improve weak cell phone reception in and around the EOC, and fixed the EOC network. NVision employees worked between 18 hours a day, 7 days per week in the months following the storm. Despite the personal losses from Katrina affecting the entire staff, everyone felt better doing something to make the situation better in their home communities. After working on a volunteer basis, FEMA contracted with NVision to continue providing mapping services at Hancock County. Shortly thereafter, FEMA contracted NVision to provide similar services at the FEMA Area Field Office in Biloxi.

NVision continues to work for FEMA in Biloxi. Even though the Hancock contract has ended, NVision is maintaining a volunteer GIS Lab at the EOC through Hurricane Season. NVision continues to assist Hancock County through grant writing efforts to help fund a permanent county GIS department. Additionally, NVision is using this experience to formalize their lessons learned into presentations and published papers to help define how small GIS teams with limited resources can provide vital GIS and technical services in rural areas after a catastrophic event. NVision now regularly attends emergency management-related conferences to talk to other professionals who worked in the aftermath of Katrina or others who are trying to learn from the disaster. NVision GIS Lead, Kelly Boyd recently gave a presentation on NVision’s “Lessons Learned” at the ESRI Users Conference in San Diego, CA.

In order to further be prepared for future events, the entire NVision staff has been certified at the second level of FEMA’s Incident Command System (ICS) which allows federal, state, and local agencies to work seamlessly together during and after a disaster. Several employees are continuing to study ICS to obtain higher levels of certification. NVision Executives are also certified at the Professional level of ICS. “Everyone on the NVision staff did what they could to help out in any way possible. NVision performs work all over the U.S., but what we were doing in our home county took priority. All of NVision’s staff now feels closer than ever to our community and we’re proud that our company’s blend of GIS and IT abilities has been able to assist in the relief and recovery of the Gulf Coast,” said Joel Lawhead, Program Manager for NVision.

Post Katrina Reflections: If A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words, 3001 Has Produced Volumes

“A year ago, we found ourselves in shock as we saw the terrible effects of Katrina on the news…and then went back to assess the damage first hand. The impact of this national disaster affected many of our families as well as our business. But we made a decision that we were going to survive and go forward. We would rebuild our homes. And we all joined together to get the company operational again. We salvaged our computers and set up an office in Lake Charles. Just as we got operational, Hurricane Rita landed in the Lake Charles area. Our company and our families were hit by 2 major hurricanes within 3 weeks. A heavy blow to any person or company…”

- Bart Bailey, CEO of 3001

After Katrina, 3001, Inc. found itself with 90 displaced families and 32 employees who lost everything. One of these employees, Sal Castillo, VP of Human Resources for 3001, vividly remembers the hurricanes that rocked the southeast one year ago. After witnessing the complete destruction of his home, he temporarily relocated to Dallas, TX and has now landed at 3001 corporate headquarters in Fairfax, VA. Mr. Castillo recalls the initial uncertainty that attended the recognition of four of the company’s major production facilities shutdown by the hurricanes. Despite the unprecedented level of chaos and destruction, 3001 management and employees set about the task of continuing operations.

One year later, 3001 can look back with a good deal of pride upon the accomplishments they achieved. Not only was the 3001 Gainesville, Florida office contracted to supply (within 24 hours of capture) 1-foot resolution imagery for nearly 22,500 square miles just days after the arrivals of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but contracts with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development also were ramped up to support mapping needs of first responders. Being the preeminent data provider in the southeast region, 3001 was called upon to deliver base map data on firewires to numerous agencies in need. High priority debris pile pictures for status reports for the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) and FEMA were captured by 3001 employees living in the devastated and resident-access-only areas of New Orleans.

From a company perspective, 3001 started an employee fund to monetarily assist employees adversely impacted by the hurricanes and floods. Additionally, the company continued to grow and achieve recognition for their quality work in geospatial services and products. In September 2005, 3001 was chosen as a finalist in the Washington Government Contractors Award, which is based on community service, growth, and the degree of support to federal government agencies. Today, 3001 remains active in contributing to the recovery and rebuilding efforts. The company continues to provide digital imagery, GIS, and other geospatial services to all levels of government, helping to solve problems and protect lives. Find additional information about 3001 and its response to Hurricane Katrina .

One Year After Katrina: Diamond Data Systems, Inc.
Committed to Rebuilding in Affected Area

On September 21, 2005, only 3 weeks after Katrina’s devastating blow to the Gulf Coast region and the subsequent levee breaches that inundated New Orleans, Diamond Data Systems announced its decision to maintain its national headquarters in the metro area and its commitment to playing an active role in the recovery of the region. Marking the one year anniversary of Katrina’s devastation, Diamond Data Systems, Inc. (DDS) reiterates its sustained commitment to help rebuild the region.

Diamond Data Systems, Inc. (DDS) is a leading provider of high value IT solutions that include IT strategy, software engineering, network infrastructure design, information assurance, IT contracting and IT outsourcing. DDS has delivered these solutions to commercial enterprises in a variety of industries including healthcare and oil & gas as well as federal and local governments. DDS is headquartered in New Orleans, LA with locations at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, Baton Rouge, LA, Houston, TX and Tampa, FL.

After the storm, DDS employees quickly found themselves scattered across 18 different states, serving client needs from unfamiliar locations. Many of those that remained began working 20-hour days, and driving hundreds of miles daily to shelters as part of an effort to reconnect families that were separated after the storm. Through the dedication and sacrifice of its employees, DDS did indeed step up in the days and weeks following Katrina.

Despite the extreme financial impact of Katrina on DDS, the company finished 2005 with a profitable year. For many weeks after the storm, when revenues were reduced to zero, DDS employees never missed a paycheck, and the company was able to reward the dedication and efforts of its staff through its year-end bonus program. Today, Diamond Data Systems remains strong and profitable, and is committed to playing its part in the economic revitalization of the area. With the significant investments in the restoration and improvement of the region’s infrastructure imminent, DDS anticipates a strengthening business environment, and a bright and vibrant future for New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast region.

Reflections on Katrina with Laurie Jugan of PSI

EIGS Assistant Director, Chris Harvey recently spent a few minutes with Laurie Jugan of PSI, an Assistant Vice-President located at Stennis Space Center. They talked about the company and how Hurricane Katrina affected PSI and its employees.

Harvey:
Laurie, please give our readers a brief overview of Planning Systems Incorporated (PSI).

Jugan: PSI is primarily a government contracting company with three sectors - Technology Services, Research and Development, and Products. Our headquarters are located in Reston, VA; however, PSI has been in the local Gulf Coast area since the early 1970s. Our primary customers in the area are the Navy and NOAA.

Harvey: How many employees are located here along the Gulf Coast?

Jugan: We have approximately 150 employees along the Gulf Coast, which is slightly less than half the company.

Harvey: How did August 29, 2005, affect PSI and its employees?

Jugan: Well, first of all, no one was hurt - that was our initial and main concern. About one third of our employees lost everything, another third had significant damage to their homes, and most of the remaining employees had something or other to deal with. Work-wise, I was lucky since my office is located at Stennis Space Center - Stennis was up and running relatively quickly. More specifically, FEMA occupied some of our office space, so they kept our generators up and running and we could coordinate efforts from there. We gladly shared our space with the recovery efforts - they were giving us far more than we were giving them!

Harvey: What were some of the challenges facing PSI?

Jugan: We needed to keep everyone employed and paid. PSI paid everyone for the weeks after Katrina not knowing if business interruption insurance would reimburse the company, but this was not the time to be without a paycheck. We focused on getting our employees back safely and back to work. Some of our customers resumed work immediately and some did not. We tried to coordinate our employees coming back when their specific customers would be ready. Some were even called in to help with their customer's recovery and several were recognized for these efforts.

Then there was the whole issue of housing. We had some employees living out of their offices, in the homes of others, and in shelters. Working through the NASA Housing Committee, all those who needed some form of housing were placed, but it took nearly a month. We were one of the first of the larger companies to place everyone.

We also are working with our employees on their own recovery. It takes time to clean, rebuild, and even just repair. For the first few months, the company arranged for a donated leave program - those having extra leave could donate it to someone on the Gulf Coast who had run out of leave. Many employees were able to clean up and begin their own recovery through this program. Even today, we have a generous leave policy when it comes to employees having building contractors at their homes.

Finally, we have to be understanding of those who no longer wish to live in this area. We have lost a handful of good employees from the area and some are still deciding if they want to stay. It has been a challenge to get new talent to an area that has been so devastated.

Harvey: We just passed Katrina’s one year mark, where is PSI now and has there been any lessons learned from Katrina that will change the way PSI prepares for possible threats in the future?

Jugan: We have a more coordinated approach to our evacuation and plans for return. Every employee will be responsible for getting personnel information to our corporate office - the location where they have evacuated and a number where they can be reached. We have an 800 number to leave messages and will have someone available via phone 24/7 in the event of another emergency. As with Katrina, our first concern will be that everyone stays safe. Our return plan includes a call tree and a website to provide employees with important information on re-opening and worksite status. We just hope we don't have to use it anytime soon.