ABSTRACT

This chapter presents the concept of geographic information systems (GIS) for disaster recovery. The ideas of short -term and long-term disaster recovery are first presented for an insight into the time scales for the specific use of GIS for disaster recovery. The geographical aspects of disaster recovery are discussed next via topics such as resilient recovery, the transition from temporary housing to permanent housing and debris removal, and the restoring of a community sense of place. Disaster recovery case studies on GIS for community development block grant programs and long-term refugee recovery efforts follow. Next is a technical discussion on the use of GIS to support disaster recovery via topics that include geocollaboration, restoring critical infrastructure, networking algorithms, and defining service areas for debris cleanup. The chapter next discusses non-technical uses of GIS for broader public participation in disaster recovery activities such as paper map-use by the public for disaster recovery and a case study on long-term refugee recovery where Story Maps are used for “maptivism”. The chapter topics are then rounded out with a conceptual and practical discussion on the transition from recovery to mitigation. The chapter concludes with a technical exercise on sustainable debris removal with networking analysis.