BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TWO weeks following the devastating 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti, the World Bank has mobilized scientists and technical experts to assess the damage caused.
The announcement was made yesterday (Jan. 26) and will be undertaken with the support of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). The project is called Global Earth Observation – Catastrophe Assessment Network (Operation GEO-CAN) and has already galvanized the support of about 103 organizations, from both governmental and non-governmental entities.
According to a World Bank press release, contributors come from 20 countries across the world including the United States, Canada, China, Barbados, the United Kingdom and India. The group of technical experts will estimate and classify building damage based on high resolution aerial imagery in areas severely affected by the earthquake, including Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince.
Images would allow the experts to have detailed visualization of houses, public buildings, cars, vegetation and even people in order to give clear damage estimates. Imagery and data collected by Google and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would also be analyzed as the World Bank continues to gather support in the global effort.
According to Saroj K. Jha, Manager and Head of GFDRR, “The information gathered will be essential for the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment that will be carried out by the Government of Haiti with support from the World Bank, the United Nations, the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Union, and other development partners.”
The idea to establish such a network of trained individuals was proposed by California-based ImageCat, a leading provider of advanced technologies for risk and disaster management.
Another partnering company, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), has gathered much support and according to its Executive Director Jay Berger, its professional membership is “uniquely qualified to partner with the World Bank” in a time like this.
“The overwhelming response to our call for EERI volunteers is not unexpected, as these earthquake professionals have a passion for seismic safety and they are jumping at the opportunity to assist the relief effort in Haiti,” Berger said.
The World Bank was among the first to mobilize teams to help assess damage and losses and plan recovery and reconstruction since a day after the disaster.
Today, the Bank’s intervention will focus on infrastructure, reconstruction, and rehabilitation, taking advantage of the opportunity to build better not only physical infrastructure but also the capacity to respond to disasters.
