NGA provides imagery, analytic support in response to Hurricane Irma

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is providing geospatial support for areas affected by Hurricane Irma at the request of the United States Agency for International Development, the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance and the Government of the Bahamas to aid in response and recovery efforts.

Upon receiving official requests, NGA has made imagery and mapping data publically available, provided evacuation route maps and produced damage assessments for areas in the Caribbean, including the Leeward Islands, Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas.

Additionally, at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, NGA deployed analysts to Tallahassee, Florida to assist with domestic recovery efforts.

NGA-produced damage assessments highlight affected and destroyed properties, residential and non-residential, as well as impassable roads and bridges. This analysis assists local and federal emergency response officials in allocating resources for the overall effort.

“The support NGA is providing through its geospatial data analysis is essential to producing the most accurate assessment of damage, quickly,” said Todd Noel, chief of the domestic support and disaster analysis branch at NGA. “From determining and prioritizing areas in need of assistance, to evaluating evacuation routes, the damage assessments provide first responders and residents impacted by Irma the immediate information they need.”

One of NGA’s core mission sets is providing accurate and timely geospatial intelligence to first responders in the wake of natural disasters. NGA supports humanitarian and disaster relief efforts by working directly with the lead federal agencies responding to fires, floods, earthquakes, landslides, hurricanes or other natural or manmade disasters.

Source: NGA