PDC Develops New Pakistan Flood Relief Map Service
Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) has been supplying information products, including maps, to organizations engaged in the life-saving operations to the ongoing Pakistan floods for several days. On August 5, the effort to supply needed data, information and maps was expanded in two ways. First, the number of agencies being serviced was dramatically increased; and second, PDC created a new Pakistan Flood Relief Map Service, consolidating many information products in one place for the use of relief agencies working in the area.
The maps are available as an ArcGIS Server map service, which also serves KML, WMS, WFS, and WCS data formats in order to support a wide variety of GIS clients. PDC’s ArcGIS Server is available at http://ags.pdc.org/rest, and the map service is in a folder named Pakistan. Additional connection instructions for a variety of GIS clients can be found at the GHIN website by clicking on the “PDC Geospatial Information Services” hyperlink in the upper right.
As one of the proven and trusted resources to disaster relief operations, the Center has been sharing maps and data updates regularly with all responding organizations, including the U.S.-Pakistan Country Director and the U.S. Director for Humanitarian Assistance and Global Health, as well as all Pakistani and international aid agencies.
As the magnitude of the humanitarian emergency grew, on August 5, sources reported that the U.S. military, already engaged in flood response in Afghanistan, began responding to the disaster in Pakistan. U.S. forces have already delivered more than 189,000 packaged halal [“lawful” for Moslems] meals and are preparing to deliver more than 200,000 more meals in the next 24 hours.” Gen. David Petraeus said, “It is vitally important we try to help those who have been tragically affected by the massive flooding. There are some tasks that the U.S. military is uniquely able to perform. We are in the process of performing some of those tasks.”
PDC’s geospatial information analysts are constantly working with international partners to maximize the amount of data available, the speed with which it is made accessible, and the coordination or consolidation of the information. One of these efforts is the establishment of a single-source for infrastructure information on the affected area. As new information products are created, PDC passes all new maps and data resources to all responding agencies, and will also provide access (and, if needed, user training) for the newly developed consolidated site.
PDC is also providing information products and services to the U.S. Department of State’s Humanitarian Information Unit and others.
While pursuing information solutions for flood disaster responders in Pakistan, PDC is also maintaining information services for civil and military responders to the disastrous wildfires across Russia.
For additional, related information, refer to:
- PDC’s original web article about support for the Pakistan floods.
- Associated Press (AP) of Pakistan’s news site for the flooding event.
- MSNBC publication of an AP story on Pakistan flood relief.
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