Using Non-authoritative Sources During Emergencies in Urban Areas - Computational Approaches for Urban Environments - page 342

Fig. 14.10 Agreement between Civil Air Patrol photos and FEMA evaluation for flooded ( a and
b ) not flooded ( c and d )

14.2.3.1 Road Damage Map

In Fig. 14.8 c, the damage assessment is limited to the FEMA-generated surge
extent for the sake of comparison. For the classification of road damage, the non-
authoritative assessment is not limited by the FEMA boundary. The fusion of the
non-authoritative data predicted flooding and damage outside the FEMA surge
boundary, so the full damage assessment was utilized for the road classification.
A road network from the TIGER/line ® shapefile was layered over the damage
assessment surface. Road damage was then classified based on the underlying
damage assessment (Fig. 14.8 d).
By using the damage assessment surface along with a high-resolution road
network layer, roads which may have severe damage can be identified at the street
level. This allows authorities to prioritize site inspections, task additional aerial
data collection, or identify routes which may be compromised. The identification
of potential damage to transportation infrastructure is also crucial to the planning of
evacuation routes during and after emergencies.