According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. now experiences an average of $1 billion in climate disasters every three weeks. Local and state governments, as well as federal agencies, are re-evaluating how they prepare for, predict, and recover from wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and more. Technology including artificial intelligence (AI), unmanned devices, and cloud solutions are contributing hugely to making communities more prepared and resilient.
More Data = More Accurate Forecasts
The National Weather Service (NWS) owns or operates 18 weather satellites, and it archives about 230 terabytes of environmental data per month from various observational platforms. But the NWS can still benefit from other data sources owned by private companies and individuals to provide a holistic picture of topography, incoming fronts, and more. Using cloud technology, NOAA can both share its data and access other public and private data. NOAA’s Open Data Dissemination program provides public access to NOAA’s open data via commercial cloud platforms to facilitate full and open data access at no net cost to the taxpayer. This fosters innovation by bringing together the tools necessary to make NOAA’s data more readily accessible.
Of course, all of this data is no good without a way to use it. AI is proving to be a game changer in facilitating faster processing of data and delivering connections and predictions that would have taken humans hours or days to deliver. In fact, NOAA officials report that using AI, and the data that the agency now has access to, they have been able to make a seven-year advancement in forecast capability in a matter of months.
CIOs’ Increasing Role in Disaster Planning
With this reliance on data, chief information officers (CIOs) play a larger role in disaster planning and response. CIOs are uniquely positioned to build resiliency with an eye toward inevitable natural disasters. The National Association of State Chief Information Officers found that state CIOs are held responsible for maintaining a “robust, reliable and secure infrastructure.” This includes playing a role in restoring communications services and standing up off-premise cloud solutions to provide uninterrupted services to citizens and first responders.
Emerging Tech Supports Faster Time to Action
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection utilizes an AI-equipped network of about 1,200 cameras to scan for smoke. When the system spots smoke, it alerts officials to view the camera footage and take appropriate action based on what they see on screen and confirmed reports. This camera system is helping responders get a jump on fire situations; in 2023 alone, AI alerted emergency managers to fires ahead of 911 calls more than 30% of the time.
Drones are also proving helpful in situational awareness before, during, and after disaster events. After Hurricane Helene, Aiken, South Carolina, used drones for quicker, more accurate damage assessments than they’d been able to make for previous disasters, leading to faster recovery efforts. Local governments can apply for FEMA funds to reimburse property damages from natural disasters, but that requires cities to calculate the volume of damage debris and its estimated cost. Drones can quickly gather the needed information and do so with less risk and expense than manned aircraft.
For more details on how technology is transforming disaster planning and response, check out these resources from GovWhitePapers and GovEvents:
- Four Technologies Aiming to Tame Wildfires (white paper) – Artificial Intelligence, along with other technology advancements, is proving to be a valuable tool in battling natural disasters and proving useful in prediction as well as detection.
- Extreme Weather: Opportunities for Improved Preparedness and Resilience (white paper) – De-risking the impacts of natural disasters, extreme weather, and climate change on homeland security requires a better understanding of the rapidly evolving global and technological landscape, the accompanying suites of options and new approaches that may be possible, and recognizing surge capacity cannot be the sole approach available in a poly-crisis environment.
- Wildfire Disasters: Opportunities to Improve Federal Response, Recovery, and Mitigation Efforts (white paper) – Numerous federal departments and agencies have roles in wildfire preparedness, response, and recovery. This paper details the Government Accountability Office’s ongoing and prior work and recommendations on challenges related to wildfire response and recovery, recruitment and retention of wildland firefighters, and interagency coordination.
- Critical Infrastructure Protection & Resilience North America (March 11-13, 2025; Houston, TX) – This conference will look to create a better understanding of the issues and the threats related to North American security, and help facilitate the work to develop frameworks, good risk management, strategic planning and implementation for infrastructure protection.
- Wildfire Technology Management (April 15-16, 2025; Long Beach, CA) – Industry leaders, wildfire agencies, academia, and representatives from utilities and power companies will come together to collaboratively address and advance solutions for the prediction, prevention, detection, suppression, and mitigation of destructive wildfires.
Explore GovWhitePapers and GovEvents for more examples of modernized disaster planning and recovery.
