ImageCat, Inc. and Risk Management Solutions, Inc. use remote sensing to map wind, storm surge, and flooding damage after Hurricane Katrina.

Long Beach, CA - September, 2005. Teaming with the RMS catastrophe response team, ImageCat employed a series of advanced technologies to assess wind damage and estimate the extent of coastal storm surge and flooding in New Orleans within the first few days of the storm crossing the coast.

One day after the hurricane made landfall, ImageCat recorded devastation to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast by airborne deployment of their VIEWS™ field data collection and visualization system. Geo-referenced video and still photographs recorded the initial storm flooding and subsequent overtopping of the levees that surround New Orleans. The information provided some of the earliest indications of the extensive damage, before post-storm satellite imagery became available.

Two days after landfall, RMS's London and California offices were able to view effects of the hurricane using the VIEWS™ visualization mode. This information helped the RMS team calibrate initial damage and loss estimates for the Gulf Coastal and New Orleans region. Five days after landfall, ImageCat mapped in detail the full extent of flooding in New Orleans, using high-resolution satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe. ImageCat also provided RMS with storm surge maps for the Mississippi coast.

For more information, contact:
Charles K. Huyck (California, US) - 562 628-1675 or
Beverley J. Adams (London, UK) - +44 1372 278777 or +44 7941 287 313