Where are all the Gas Stations? 2008 Hurricane Season Lessons Learned Workshop Louisiana’s Geospatial Response to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike January 29, 2009 State Library of Louisiana

Hurricane Gustav Nearly 2 million people evacuated from south Louisiana in the days before Gustav Nearly 2 million people evacuated from south Louisiana in the days before Gustav 34 parishes were declared disaster areas on September 2 34 parishes were declared disaster areas on September 2 48 deaths in the state of Louisiana 48 deaths in the state of Louisiana 1.5 million people were without power in Louisiana on September million people were without power in Louisiana on September 1

Louisiana EOC needs Information on the Availability of Fuel for the Public Citizens enter open gas stations addresses into La.gov website Citizens enter open gas stations addresses into La.gov website La DNR is using internet to cold call gas stations La DNR is using internet to cold call gas stations Hampton Peele believes there is an official source for gas stations Hampton Peele believes there is an official source for gas stations LA DNR states LA Agriculture and Forestry’s Weights and Measures have official list LA DNR states LA Agriculture and Forestry’s Weights and Measures have official list Weights and Measures have such list in their main building, but have no power Weights and Measures have such list in their main building, but have no power Eventually list is obtained Eventually list is obtained Hampton Peele calls Josh Kent and asks who is the best source to geocode gas stations Hampton Peele calls Josh Kent and asks who is the best source to geocode gas stations LA DOTD is tasked to geocode ~ 3400 gas stations on September 4 for a meeting on the 5 th LA DOTD is tasked to geocode ~ 3400 gas stations on September 4 for a meeting on the 5 th

La Ag and Forestry Database

What is Geocoding? Finding a geographic location for a given address Finding a geographic location for a given address Requires addresses in a standard format with two fields: 1. Number, Name, Type (123 | Main | St.) Requires addresses in a standard format with two fields: 1. Number, Name, Type (123 | Main | St.) 2. A 5–digit Zip Code Requires a street center line GIS database with specific geocoding fields Requires a street center line GIS database with specific geocoding fields Requires software that reads the addresses and associates them with the GIS data Requires software that reads the addresses and associates them with the GIS data

How does a Address Locator Work? 1. Identify the street and zip code in the GIS database 2. Identify the segment that contains the address number 3. Determine on what side of the street the address number belongs (odd or even) 4. Interpolate the numeric address along the line 5. Create a new point feature in a GIS database

Factors Affecting Geocoding Accuracy 1. Addresses Spelling variance and errors Multiple names (Florida Bl/ US 190) Zip code errors New Streets/ addresses 2. GIS Data Currency of database Location of street center lines Does database support multiple names A Geocoding “Hit” Does Not Mean a Correct Location!

Finding Unmatched Addresses There were ~3400 gas stations and ~500 were unmatched (15%).

Reasons for Unmatched Points Wrong zip code Wrong zip code Street name and zip code do not match Wrong Prefix/Suffix Street instead of Road missing N,S, W, E prefix Abbreviation – boulevard: boul\blvd Wrong Prefix/Suffix Street instead of Road missing N,S, W, E prefix Abbreviation – boulevard: boul\blvd Wrong town given Wrong town given Address is new 911 readdressing Address is new 911 readdressing Custom Addresses Custom Addresses Highways 123 Highway 10 instead of 123 State Hwy 10 Highways 123 Highway 10 instead of 123 State Hwy 10 Geocoding standards - use 123 Hwy 10 Geocoding standards - use 123 Hwy 10

Other Geocoding Sources Louisiana Department of Social Services (DSS) Louisiana Department of Social Services (DSS) ESRI * 2 ESRI * 2 Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) All of these sources had the same approximate error rate

Online Sources for Unmatched Addresses Google Search Engine Google Search Engine Google Maps Google Maps Google Street View Other Sources Other Sources Virtual Earth Yahoo These provide other options for finding targets Search by name of business Visual inspection Verify phone numbers These have the most up to date GIS data

Phone Verifying Unmatched Addresses Sometimes it works, but… Sometimes it works, but… “I just work here.” “I just work here.” “Which way is North?” “Which way is North?” “It is next to Bubba’s Bar B Que.” “It is next to Bubba’s Bar B Que.” Wrong phone number was entered. Wrong phone number was entered. ~ 50 % of calls were successful in verifying a location

Other GIS data Sources Homeland Security Infrastructure Program (HSIP) Freedom – general release Homeland Security Infrastructure Program (HSIP) Freedom – general release Gold – reserved for declared emergencies for limited recipients Parish Data Parish Data These sources were difficult to work with without prior knowledge of the data organization and format.

How do we make this work? Ownership La Department of Ag and Forest needs to keep gas stations up to date and have a mechanism to distribute them Ownership La Department of Ag and Forest needs to keep gas stations up to date and have a mechanism to distribute them QA, QC QA, QC A commitment to insure addresses and other data are complete, accurate, and up to date needs to be sustained GPS GPS GPS locations are accurate regardless of addressees Procedures need to be implemented to collect GPS locations for all gas stations in the database Web Service Web Service Web access, whether public or secure, can provide direct access to data for intended parties

Maintaining Currency of Dynamic Data Many operation databases are dynamic by nature (space and time) Many operation databases are dynamic by nature (space and time) Dynamic databases often have missing records for new data Dynamic databases often have missing records for new data Dynamic Databases often include old records that should be deleted Dynamic Databases often include old records that should be deleted Multiple copies of dynamic data result in different users having access to different information Multiple copies of dynamic data result in different users having access to different information During emergency operation everyone needs to be on the same page!

Lessons Learned from 2008 Data Ownership Agencies with data useful in emergencies need to identify those sources, maintain them, and make them available. Data Ownership Agencies with data useful in emergencies need to identify those sources, maintain them, and make them available. Location Accuracy Location Accuracy GPS locations should be gathered for as many critical databases as possible. These locations need to be maintained by the agencies that “own” the data. Data Quality Data Quality QA, QC should be a constant commitment. Prior to hurricane season each agency should ensure the quality of their data. Data Access Data Access Web Services make an excellent means for sharing and distributing data. These assets should be prepositioned before hurricane season.

LA DOTD GIS Contacts Jim Mitchell - IT GIS Manager CJ Marchand - IT GIS Database Manager/ Web Developer Doug Albert – IT GIS Technical Specialist Website:

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