Head Island a barrier island off the
coast of South Carolina starting the
evening of Friday October 7th 2016 the
winds began to pick up speed the
advancing storm surge pushed into
low-lying areas overnight we would set
two records most rainfall ever and
highest high tides ever
fortunately few people actually
witnessed this I was hunkered down with
some 600 first responders representing
over 20 different agencies we had
traveled about 30 miles inland and taken
over the campus of our regional
University this was a base camp many of
our residents had evacuated well in
advance and waited wearily in motel
rooms having rented whatever they could
find these folks just wanted to come
home I get that my wife made it clear to
me in a previous evacuation four kids
and a dog in a motel room ain’t no
people pray this storm would just leave
us alone did not happen as Saturday
dawned a question on top of mind was how
many people died amazingly none it would
take several days for search and rescue
teams to confirm that not one person
died on our island it was a miracle at
6:00 a.m. Saturday the eye of the storm
was twenty miles off our coast was an
eye wall 40 miles across this means the
strongest winds which were along that
wall were directly over our beaches
chewing them up in raging at property
and vegetation we will never know how
many trees were downed they littered
roads yards parking lots and lay
splintered across buildings just picking
up the trees will cost us more than
forty million dollars by 9:00 a.m. I was
part of advance team that reached the
island as we came down those bridges I
was stunned debris was everywhere
the roads were deserted of vehicles
beyond the absence of human activity
there were no bugs there were no birds
chirping it was eerie our intent had
been to see if we could even make it to
the island and having done so to start
relaying what we were seeing back to
base camp where we entry teams were
being assembled
to push their way to the hospital fire
we struggled to get around what with
debris blocking roads power lines down
flooded streets we could not make it to
the beaches nor to almost any of our
residential neighborhoods at the end of
that effort I realized I only took three
photographs later as I thought about
that I recalled old World War two movies
where they incorporate scenes of actual
battle footage the military understands
the importance of documentation and the
value of sharing that with the public
now we have always known that a
hurricane might come we have planned and
prepared for this but photos videos to
the extent the topic came up it was in
terms of documentation needed for
federal reimbursement claims
I wondered can we use modern technology
to improve our performance while also
sharing accurate and timely data with
our citizens our customers our first
responders can now simultaneously be the
documentaries think of dashcams helmet
camps mounted 360 view cameras imagine
how much better prepared those re-entry
teams might have been if I and that
advanced team has been equipped to
capture in-stream video back to base
camp while such cameras would be helpful
we still need systems that will capture
later Saturday I took a ride on a Coast
Guard helicopter as we came across the
sound and over the beaches of Hilton
Head Island I was relieved roofs were
mostly intact siding had not been
stripped from buildings foundations had
not been undermined this is not to say
there was no damage some of those boats
were people’s homes some small charter
companies depended on some of those
boats while aboard that helicopter I
finally started taking some pictures
after some of them were posted online
there was a clamor for access to the
rest of those images damaged or not
people just wanted to see their homes
one resident told me that he saw that
his roof was damaged and was able to
make arrangements for repairs days
before even being allowed back on the
island our resorts and businesses began
to plan for their recovery while still
far away these images and of course
others settled nerves and spurred people
to action we need more of this we need
to quickly capture data from the entire
it took me three day two days to reach
my own home some of our first responders
worked days more without seeing theirs
imagine the impact on their spirits if
while still out in the field we could
have shared images of their homes with
them Saturday the call started coming in
to our emergency dispatchers urging us
to check on family and friends often the
elderly who had stayed behind and not
been heard from
you cannot fathom the difficulty with
which those dispatchers had to give the
answer I’m sorry we have no way to get
imagine drones with infrared technology
or a communication system that would
have enabled us to do welfare checks
could such drones serve as a force
multiplier allowing search and rescue
team to cover more ground and thus save
lives in a larger disaster think about
those in need of food water and medicine
can the drone delivery techniques
currently being tested by industry be
adapted to these situations as those
first recesses re-entry teams pushed
onto the island those hundreds of first
responders that it’s sheltered at base
camp flowed in behind them and went to
work but pick any street how many times
that individual crews travel that same
Road to do reconnaissance can we capture
photos and videos in a first pass
residents who ignored the evacuation
order began posting photos and
commentary on Saturday as staff
attempted to capture and share the best
of these images they struggled to figure
out what was being depicted points of
geographic information systems GIS can
be a key component to accomplishing this
vision GIS can capture massive amounts
of data and tie it to a specific
location photos videos social commentary
field notes all can be captured from
whatever sources enabling us to create a
live interactive map for the use and
benefit of our first responders and the
public obviously we can tap into
technologies that already exist however
in order to truly transform how our
communities respond to a disaster we
will need tools and systems not yet
created if we can speed the restoration
of basic services and get people back in
their homes sooner it can pay long-term
dividends for all of our communities so
I am calling on all of us to come
together in our communities to urge
industry and government to reimagine the
way we respond to a disaster
keep the public informed
faster and stronger [Music]