There was once an interesting question posed by a former staff writer of the Government Technology and Emergency Management magazines in regards to public safety. For instance, in the case of a massive disaster how prepared are we in allocating resources for rescue and recovery? To effectively handle the allocation of such resources the government or decision-makers should be aware of the ongoing situation and those affected. In the last decade, there have been quite a several disasters, hurricanes, and emergencies that have prompted the need for an effective national response. The Geospatial intelligence system has proven to be one of the best approaches that have improved the national response to disasters.
The Geospatial Intelligence system is a conceptualized framework that provides the ability to capture and understand geographical information. In the event of a disaster, the GIS systems enable the response team to identify the affected areas and those at risk, the key rescue search areas, and provide the decision-makers with concise information on the vulnerability concerning previous events. The primary role of the geographic intelligence system is to provide stakeholders or decision-makers with information that is effective in helping impacted areas as well as dealing with the associated damage experienced ( Binversie, 2017) . For example, geographical information found from pre-incident surveys that provide key information on size, shape, location, and structures surrounding a specified area and other important facts can be stored and recorded in the GIS. For instance, the hurricane Irma is one of the strongest storms to ever occur on the Atlantic Ocean. Even as it continued to spread, the Federal Emergency Management Agency created its information-sharing portal that helped in collaborating with the state as every second count at the event of a disaster ( Binversie, 2017) .
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During such hurricanes and other disasters, several teams including federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, military, and the citizens all work together in ensuring their response efforts give the best possible results. The whole team, therefore, depends on the geospatial intelligence data to coordinate their response. Besides, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) plays a significant role in providing daily geospatial coordination notes enabling this information to always be readily available ( Binversie, 2017) . Using such data acts in ensuring public safety is the most essential priority for every response team. FEMA further partners with Geoplatform.gov which provides one-stop-shop access to access visualizing data concerning all disasters present in the continent, as well as disaster relief organizations such as the American Red Cross, to provide readily available information for disaster response.
The GIS is also involved in providing key search and rescue areas that assist in ensuring public safety is considered. In response to several hurricanes like Mathew, Irma, Katrina, and Harvey, GIS made it easy to conduct convenient search and rescue. Disaster relief organizations use information from GIS to map potential escape and shelters as well as risk areas within their networks hence at the forefront of ensuring effective public safety and handling ( Binversie, 2017) . The GIS has, therefore, provided and will continue to assist in disaster management and response through the identification of impacted areas with the associated damage, listing key search and rescue areas, and provide the decision-makers and public with clear information for them to understand based on previous events that were experienced.
In conclusion, when handling hurricane Mathew and Irma among others, correct and in-depth pre-surveys data enabled the decision maker's private and government, attain endless possibilities in not only ensuring public safety through rescue shelters but also providing event awareness of all areas affected by disasters. The Geographic Intelligence System, therefore, is actively involved in all levels of an emergency including planning, mitigation, awareness, readiness, response, and safety. Just as it was used to handle the Hurricanes, GIS will always have a huge role in future emergency possibilities.
Reference
Kurt Binversie. (2017, December 4). Hurricane season: How GIS data continues to change disaster response . In Public Safety. https://inpublicsafety.com/2017/09/hurricane-irma-gis-data-continues-change-disaster-response/
