Official website of the Department of Homeland Security
Helping provide rescue and response efforts with life-saving technologies is an important and visible way DHS S&T contributes to the protection and safety of the nation and the first responder community.
Yesterday, the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Kevin K. McAleenan, was briefed by Federal Emergency Management Agency Acting Administrator, Pete Gaynor, from the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) at FEMA headquarters in Washington, DC, on the current path and strength of Hurricane Dorian. DHS and its component agencies are working to aggressively prepare for any potential impacts Americans may face as a result of this potentially life threatening and extremely dangerous storm.
APS uses modeling technology with a 30-year track record of providing accurate representations of coastal water movement, flooding, and storm impacts.
The ADvanced CIRCulation (ADCIRC) storm surge model combines rain, atmospheric pressure, and wind forecasts to predict when, where, and to what extent flooding will inundate a coastal community with greater precision than other available models. This enables decision-makers to identify which locations will become unsafe and plan for mitigation and response before severe storms occur.
The Disaster Recovery Tracking Tool includes 79 metrics that measure how a community is recovering from a disaster. These metrics (e.g., total disaster related business closures, number of organizations involved in recovery, median home value) are organized in four themes and 10 focus areas that are based on FEMA’s recovery support functions and core capabilities in order to link the metrics to the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) guidance. Researchers are also working to test ways in which the metrics can be used to characterize recovery progress, detect problems with recovery, and improve future recovery and resilience. A practitioner checklist will help end users decide which metrics to use and how to begin collecting data.
The CRC conducts research and education to enhance the resilience of people, infrastructure, economies, and the natural environment from the impacts of coastal hazards such as floods and hurricanes.
Over the years, S&T has developed a host of tools in preparation for the Atlantic hurricane season; the 2019 season officially began June 1.
DHS S&T's Web-based HURREVAC platform integrates forecast and planning data to provide emergency managers with decision support tools for use in advance of and during tropical weather.
Andre Hentz, S&T Deputy Under Secretary and Robert Kolasky, Director, National Risk Management Center, DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will be presenting at SXSW on “Building Resilient Cities,” with former Maryland Governor, Martin O’Malley and Rachel Horn from the Consumer Technology Association.
Several S&T technologies, already in place in many communities, deployed with emergency managers, first responders, and decision makers to predict storm activity, provide alerts, support timely decisions, and keep communication lines open during recent major hurricanes, including Florence and Michael.
