Abstract

The fall of 2005 presented new challenges and tested our abilities to use technologies presently employed to assist search and rescue, along with disaster recovery. August 28, 2005 set in place a new course for Louisiana and those who inhabit its coastal regions. The Regional Application Center (RAC), University of Louisiana at Lafayette, along with others, brought to the table data coordination, imagery acquisition, past, present and future, and map development. The RAC has been involved in the day-to-day activities of GIS and remote sensing response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. These efforts have supported the U.S. Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and to a greater extent the operation of search and rescue and recovery by the Louisiana National Guard. Highlights will cover data mining, acquisition, retrieval, delivery and current availability. First-hand response, by the RAC crew, to the request for volunteer responders in New Orleans the week after Hurricane Katrina will be shown. The expanding role of these technologies, those that wield them and lessons learned, will also be discussed.