CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Chesapeake has been testing out a new system that should enhance their preparedness to respond in the aftermath of natural disasters.
An initial field test of the new Crisis Track System was held in April. The system is used by field inspectors to electronically gather data after a natural disaster.
It measures the level of damage to both businesses and homes. It allows staff to auto populate reports that can be submitted to FEMA within 72 hours of an event.
The report it generates is called a Preliminary Damage Assessment that FEMA uses to determine if an event will receive a disaster declaration from the President.
That declaration would allow federal funds to be provided to Virginia and Chesapeake for costs related to the natural disaster.
After a natural disaster, development and permit staff along with CERT members would be assigned to pre-configured zones to do assessments of damage. Once completed a FEMA report is generated to determine the accuracy of the report compared to the actual assessments made in the field.
