GIS in National Security

Maryland safeMAP: An Emergency Mapping Application for the Public

—John Morgan, Towson University

Since 2004, the Emergency Management Mapping Application (EMMA) has served as the Web-based emergency mapping system for Maryland State and local government agencies. No such system currently exists for use by Maryland residents in the event of an emergency. Lack of public information was responsible for many of the problems and widespread confusion associated with the evacuation of New Orleans prior to the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, as well the confusion that ensued following the passage of the hurricane.

Maryland safeMAP is a Web mapping application that serves as a public "common operating picture" for Maryland residents in the event of an emergency. The purposes of this presentation are to describe the development of safeMAP and to demonstrate the current functionality of the application. safeMAP was developed by the Geospatial Research and Education Laboratory at Towson University using ArcGIS API for Flex (Environmental Systems Research Institute).