Accela, a US government software provider announced the expansion of its cloud-based solution to help communities respond to and prepare for the growing threat of natural disasters.
The dramatic result is a dizzying assortment of natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, and hurricanes, an example being Hurricane Katrina that was a category 5 hurricane that made landfall in Southern Florida that caused massive destruction resulting in almost 1200 fatalities in August of 2005.
Due to this, communities across the West Coast currently facing record snowmelt, historic flooding, worsening fire seasons and historic natural disasters have put residents’ lives, livelihoods, businesses and infrastructure at risk.
As local agencies work to increase their communities’ resiliency, they need quick, affordable and easy-to-implement technology to expedite relief and help them prepare for future disasters. The majority of the disaster response and inspection efforts rely on manual processes, which in turn delays relief and funding.
Accela’s Accessible Geospatial Solutions
Accela expanded its disaster preparedness and response solution in response to customers’ demand for more accessible, digital tools.
The RDA cloud solution initially included Mobile inspections, Bulk Inspection record creation and assignments, a Public-facing portal for reporting of RDA results by address and area and streamlined FEMA relief reporting.
Accela had previously worked with the City of New Orleans in a similar relief effort after Hurricane Katrina. The software solution played a significant role in decreasing the timeline of New Orleans’ damage assessment work.
The updated Rapid Damage Assessment (RDA) can now be used in the event of hurricanes, fires, floods, tornados and other natural disasters.
Now integrated with Esri’s ArcGIS Survey123, the expanded solution streamlines inspections required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Reasonable Expected Market Area (REMA).
With new geospatial and mobile capabilities, the pre-configured solution is instantly available to hundreds of existing government customers and quickly available to new customers as part of Accela’s Civic Platform.
The two-way integration sends survey results and geospatial data to the Accela Civic Platform for location-based planning and automated inspections, allowing communities to prioritize the areas most in need and to track the overall progress of recovery efforts within the GIS dashboard.
“Our communities are facing historic storms and impacts from snow melts and hurricanes. Accela’s new, easy-to-use tools help agencies prepare and respond to get communities back on their feet,” said Accela Vice President of Product Management Amber D’Ottavio. “With bulk inspection records, offline mobile options, relief permitting compliance and more, this enhanced solution leverages our years of best practices to help communities prepare, respond and rebuild more quickly and cost-effectively.”
The solution now helps communities prepare by ensuring safety codes are being enforced across structures, hazardous materials, fire safety and more.
The solution also reinforces the communities’ recovery by empowering residents to report damage, streamlining the permit application and review process, automating inspection and clean-up assignments, and centralizing data and reporting.
With the latest online and offline mobile options, photos, videos and other assessment data can easily be captured without being impacted by any service interruptions.
“When Hurricane Ian struck last fall, digital damage assessment tools had a huge impact in helping us recover,” said Ben Bailey, Community Development Director of Charlotte County, Florida. “We were able to quickly see where the worst impacts were and direct relief to those most in need.
As a community that will continue to face the threat of hurricanes, Accela allows us to prepare and support our recovery efforts, making it possible for residents to return to their homes and businesses faster.”
