Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Geographic Information Services (GIS) Team

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

Beginning in October of 2017, when wildfires claimed 5,300 homes and the lives of 22 people, the Sonoma County EOC GIS Team undertook a long-term effort to develop and deliver innovative GIS mapping services to first responders, state and federal agencies, county departments, and the residents of Sonoma County. Since 2017, the County has endured one of the most significant series of proclaimed disasters including multiple wildfires, floods, Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events, a homeless encampment crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. In each of these disaster events, the EOC GIS Team innovated new approaches for communicating situational awareness, analyzing threats to life and property, informing public safety decisions for evacuations, expanding the effectiveness of public warning systems, expanding the capacity of public communications, and guiding long-term recovery efforts. Time and again, the EOC GIS Team worked under intense pressure and time restrictions to produce dynamic information products to match the rapidly evolving situations experienced with wildfires and flood. Their skills and teamwork enabled real-time estimates of numbers of residents evacuated which directly informed the emergency shelter planning and public information efforts. Their mapping tools helped County staff proactively support Access & Functional Needs (AFN) clients whose lives were jeopardized during unprecedented Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS). The tools they developed have directly saved lives and have enabled residents experiencing repeated disasters to remain informed and empowered.