GIS technology has become the one unifying component that every community can use to plan for, respond to, and recover from, major disasters--whether these are natural events such as hurricanes, or the man-made destruction of terrorist attack. By giving responders and disaster managers a way to analyze each stage of a disaster visually and to synthesize complex information sets, GIS permits swifter decision-making and better communication. Confronting Catastrophe: A GIS Handbook is a hands-on guide for both emergency-operations and GIS managers, as well as for government decision-makers, on ways to best to implement GIS into disaster management.

The book takes readers through the five stages of that management--Identification and Planning, Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery--and shows how GIS processes can be incorporated into each. Using real-word examples from agencies across the country, the book offers practical insights on using GIS technology to bring efficiency and speed to life-saving work.

About the Author: R.W. Greene is the author of two previous ESRI Press books, GIS for Public Policy