Rapid Fire Industries: Web - GIS - Planning - Hazard Mitigation and more. "Map. Manage. Minimize Risk "

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RFI returns from Gulf Coast Deployment

Message from president and founder Anthony Veltri:

The events which unfolded after hurricane Katrina and now Hurricane Rita made landfall have made clear the need for self-contained GIS and planning resources throughout the gulf coast. Thanks to the generosity and understanding of our clients, I have transported our mobile mapping unit (MMU) to the affected area to assist local, state, and federal agencies with recovery and mitigation efforts in the wake of this natural disaster. We are currently providing support for Rhode Island Urban Search and Rescue Team, Georgia Search and Rescue and Tennesee Search and Rescue. In addition, our MMU is currently serving as a FOB for wireless communications infrastructure being deployed by individuals at radioresponse.org.

The MMU is a custom-made vehicle designed to provide agencies with the tools they need to plan rescue, recovery and mitigation operations. The general public is often not aware of the tremendous effort which is required to coordinate even a small rescue/recovery operation. Without these planning resources tasks are often repeated and in some instances forgotten about entirely. We have set up a blog located at www.rapid-fire.us which will attempt to highlight the day-to-day activities which are involved in planning operations for such a large incident.

For those of you not familiar with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), I highly encourage you explore the following links. This powerful technology is not new, but nonetheless is not nearly as well known as it should be. Through education and awareness we can use GIS to minimize the amount of damage which occurs in any disaster.

GIS is for everyone
A VERY informative and easy to understand page with links to BASIC GIS capabilities. There is a great link on this page to a very entertaining Flash movie describing how GIS affects your everyday life

What is GIS?
A generic definition from ESRI. This is not the most intuitive definition of what GIS is, but the site is rich with more complex information on the subject.

United States Geologic Survey (USGS) GIS poster
A more in-depth and technical discussion of GIS with good visuals.

Geodata.gov
Great examples of GIS mapping of Katrina-affected areas on a large-scale. We collect, process and display the data which makes maps like these possible.

GIS and homeland security / Disaster preparedness

GIS Command Vehicle
-designed specifically for disaster mgmt.
-4 GIS workstations
-satellite telephone
-high-speed internet
-36" map making printer
-survey-grade GPS units
-handheld GPS units
-generator runs up to 2 days on one tank of gas

an inside view of the vehicle

Please click HERE if you would like to learn more about GIS and how it can save lives and property in natural disasters.

Special thanks to ubuildabook for assisting with the 1st edition of Katrina

Links of those who we have collaborated with on these missions:

wirelessmapping.com Radioresponse.org
www.RIUSAR.com
www.wifi-nw.com
and more to come as time permits...