—Gail Lazaras, DHS/FEMA
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina irrevocably changed the human landscape of the Gulf Coast, causing the single largest disaster for cultural resources in the United States since the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966. In response to the enormity of the disaster and the need to resolve immediate threats to human health and safety, FEMA response adversely affected many historic properties. FEMA Historic Preservation effectively utilized GIS technology for decision making and data collection using National Park Service draft data standards for Cultural Resource GIS. We will examine this approach using the Mississippi project of historic resource digital field inventory and demolitions in New Orleans as case studies. In this situation, disaster was an opportunity to utilize GIS systems for response, recovery, and mitigation in Historic Preservation. These processes and their components can be distilled and used as a starting point for future investigation and possibly for disaster response.