After the Tornados
A series of tornadoes struck 32 Indiana counties in the fall of 2002. Luckily the storms produced
no fatalities, but thousands of buildings, trees, and power lines were damaged. In Marion County-Indianapolis,
more than 990 buildings reported damage, and two high-voltage electrical towers were destroyed, leaving
70,000 homes without electricity.
With such a large-scale disaster, coordination between agencies and outside organizations can be crucial
in the days and hours after an event. Being able to locate and gather information on-site is vital to
declaring a disaster area, a necessary step in securing federal and local recovery funds.
The Indianapolis-Marion County GIS Team responded immediately to support emergency response and disaster
recovery efforts. They created maps for workers unfamiliar with the affected areas. They also generated
specific forms for field crews to easily document the extent and value of property damage - information
needed by government and private organizations. Storm track and damage maps were made available in a
variety of formats, including printed map sets, digital maps on disk, and data posted online. These and
other maps helped local emergency management, public safety, public transit, public works, field inspectors,
SEMA and FEMA coordinate their efforts more effectively.
Results
The leadership of the GIS Team aided in organizing and tracking the mitigation efforts of local, state,
federal and nonprofit organizations. The Team also assisted nonprofit agencies, like the Red Cross,
many of whom came from out-of-state.
A local emergency was declared within hours of the tornadoes touching down, and within three days State
and federal emergencies were declared. FEMA reported Marion County's was the best GIS response they had ever seen.
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