EMC177 Video Damage Assessment Release 3/29/99 An article in the October 1998 Civil Air Patrol NEWS, vol 30, No 10, was the basis of this bulletin. "During September Tropical Storm Francis stood off the coast of Lake Charles, La, then finally moved slowly towards east Texas. During the time it hovered it pumped heavy rains and vicious winds into southern Lousiana. The resulting floods, wind driven tides and tornadoes caused significant damage to the state's roads and levee system." Being unable to assist with flying due to the weather, CAP wing members decided they would develop some capability for uploading damage-assessment video to the Internet. They figured it was just a matter of time before being asked to assist the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness (LAOEP) and they were going to be ready. They purchased a computer peripheral device to capture and transform a video-input signal to a digital computer file and figured out how to download aerial slow scan video. The next day, a call came from a local office of emergency preparedness, tasking the unit with a number of missions of assess damage from flooding and tornadoes. Three teams and ground crews worked throughout the day taking pictures and uploaded 24 "shots" onto the CAP mission web site for all the responding agencies to use. The day after the LAOEP asked CAP "to survey flooding south of New Orleans, where a canal levee was leaking and two towns were underwater. Levees were breached and severe flooding was occurring over a broad area. An air crew and a ground team were formed and armed with video and still cameras. After some setbacks they uploaded vital video images on the Internet. In addition, video film and 35mm photographs were placed in the hands of the LAOEP planning staff." When the three-day period was over, the Louisiana Wing had "mastered a new and very valuable capability - filing near real- time video on the Internet and transmitting it via computer to big screen displays in the LAOEP command post for all the planning staff to use." _____ Summary: Use of working systems, like the Internet, is a vital tool in today's emergency community. Yes, it may fail, but until it does, use it to its fullest and be prepared for an alternative when it does fail. --- To subscribe to bulletins, use the Subscription Services web page at . If you don't have web access, just send an e-mail message to . - For training assistance contact the ACS Training Officer at the web site or send an email to larton@garlic.com - Submit suggestions, topics or comments on the bulletins to cary.mangum@macnexus.org or cary_mangum@oes.ca.gov Bulletins are on the ACS Web page: http://acs.oes.ca.gov -and a Landline BBS: 916-262-0856 (graphical & standard interface); and a FTP Archive: ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/packet/tcpip/incoming for some bulletins. For earlier ones: ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/races EOM