NEW ORLEANS (Sept. 27, 2016) — Just one week shy of the anniversary of a catastrophic “thousand-year” rain in South Carolina, Woolpert’s video on its groundbreaking disaster relief efforts employed immediately following that event was recognized.

“Aerial Imagery Assists Flood Disaster Response in South Carolina, and in Record Time,” a video by Woolpert Project Director Brian Bates, received an Interactive Knowledge Exchange (IKE) Award today from WEFTEC 2016 in the Technical Category. WEFTEC is the Water Environment Federation’s annual Technical Exhibition and Conference, and it is being held this week in New Orleans.

The video details the actions Woolpert took in the wake of the flooding in which 36 dams failed, 19 people were killed and 20,000 people displaced. The firm collected perishable orthoimagery and lidar and was able to share that information on a website and app within two days of the disaster.

“We wanted to fly the imagery as quickly as possible, process it as quickly as possible and, while it was being flown and processed, simultaneously work on developing a web viewer that would allow us to share it with both the client and the public as soon as it was ready,” said Chris Morabito, Woolpert software developer, in the video.

The information collected, layered with previous imagery of the site, showed a vivid before-and-after map of the region and clearly outlined the devastation caused by the flood.

“When Brian came to show me the data and the app that was used, and I could see the areas that I grew up in and areas I visit on a daily basis and to be able to zoom in and see those areas, it was very impactful,” South Carolina Rep. Beth Bernstein said in the video. “I’m not a technical person so when I saw this, it really showed me the devastation before and after.”

To view Woolpert’s video, which is being shown and discussed at the conference today, visit http://woolpert.com/emergency-response-solutions-for-disaster-relief/.

This is the second year that WEFTEC has bestowed its IKE awards, and Woolpert’s first win.

About Woolpert

Woolpert is a national architecture, engineering and geospatial (AEG) firm that delivers value to clients by strategically blending engineering excellence with leading-edge technology and geospatial applications. With a dynamic R&D department, Woolpert works with inventive business partners like Google; operates a fleet of planes, sensors and unmanned aerial systems (UAS); and continually pushes industry boundaries by working with advanced water technologies, asset management, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and sustainable design. Woolpert’s mission is to help its clients progress—and become more progressive. For over 100 years and with 23 offices across the United States, Woolpert serves the needs of federal, state and local governments; private and public companies and universities; energy and transportation departments; and the United States Armed Forces. The firm currently is doing business in all 50 states and in five foreign countries. For more information, visit woolpert.com or call 937-531-1258.