Day 1: Wednesday, May 28

• Keynote presentation by retired Lieutenant General Russel Honoré. LTG Honoré is a decorated 37-year Army veteran and a global authority on leadership and emergency preparedness. As the commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, he became known as the “Category 5 General” for his leadership in coordinating military relief efforts in post-hurricane New Orleans.

• Oral Histories: Plan for Hurricanes Katrina & Rita – This session will highlight the importance of oral history in documenting history and culture in the state of Louisiana. Staff from the T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History at LSU Libraries Special Collections will be on-site at the conference to conduct brief oral history interviews for those interested in participating as part of “LSU Listens.” To sign up ahead of time for a 15-minute interview, please contact Jen Cramer at jabrah1@lsu.edu.

• Speed Panel — Katrina & Rita: How did I get here? – Have you ever wondered how disaster support teams get deployed, travel, and become involved? Hurricane Katrina was remarkable not only for its scale, but also for the key individuals who traveled from all over the country to support the geospatial response and recovery efforts. This session will share short stories of the adventures and challenges faced while getting to our disaster desks in Louisiana.

• GIS: Housing, Infrastructure, & Damage Assessments – Identifying temporary housing locations, monitoring the recovery of critical infrastructure, and performing damage assessments were key actions as a result of Hurricanes Katrina & Rita impacts. Dewberry will showcase how geospatial technologies supported temporary housing, critical infrastructure, and damage assessments during these hurricanes and how they are used today.

• The Impact of Poverty Bias on Diverse Communities – Let’s dive into the heart of resilience and recovery. Discover the profound effects Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had on historically marginalized communities, and uncover the ongoing challenges and triumphs these communities face today.

• Katrina Evacuation Timeline – This is a recap of the 3-Day Evacuation that was successfully executed over only two days.

• A Twenty-year Retrospective: How Has Spatial Data Inventories Improved for First Responders? – Expert panel discussion to look back at innovative use of data surrogates for Hurricane Katrina response 2005 and the state of spatial data for public safety in 2025. The panel will conclude with suggestions for best practices for communicating to elected officials and other stakeholders the critical importance of investing in geospatial data development to further the public safety mission.

 

Day 2: Thursday, May 29

• Prioritizing Rescue and Relief: How GIS Guided Action During 2005 Hurricanes – Learn how the success of showing operational personnel a map of their coverage set the groundwork for future development.

• Partnership Building – Discussion on the importance of partnerships in crisis. When everything is broken, new and old relationship are the key to success. This session will talk through examples from Katrina and how they led to incredible outcomes.

• 2005 – 2025 -> Progressing Geospatial Data Interoperability, Standardization, and Availability for Emergency Response – Since Katrina & Rita, Big Data is welcoming yet often overwhelming to utilize for your missions. Government’s silos of excellence involve collecting data as never before, but then agencies are left with how to store and distribute it for optimal use. Take a trip down the geospatial data memory lane up to the present. HERE Technologies will present perspectives on enabling a Digital Infrastructure Strategy for the emergency management community to better save lives and property.

• US&R Data Katrina-Rita & Today – In this session, attendees will learn how US&R assets were deployed in 2005, and how the US&R system has evolved.

• Advancements in Geospatial Analytics and Decision Support Systems for Catastrophic Disaster Missions from Katrina to Today – Evolution and key improvements in geospatial technology and data, as well as predictive modeling and reporting, have been invested in and operationalized from Katrina to today. This session will share case studies that highlight these improvements at the federal and state/local levels, including recent implementation by the State of Louisiana.

• Preparedness in Uncertain Times – How do we effectively plan, prepare, and mitigate in anticipation of a community’s worst day? Sanborn takes a geospatial approach. Through strategic planning and data analytics, we help communities to identify resources, vulnerabilities, and opportunities for collaboration. In this presentation we will share the Sanborn approach to emergency preparedness and mitigation.

• GIS Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow – A look back, a view of today, and a peak into the future with an Esri-led panel.

 

**Day 3: Friday, May 30 (optional)

9 AM-12 PM, LSU Campus

Special Training Session presented by Sea Island Software:

• Introduction to HURREVAC – The National Hurricane Program’s Decision Support Tool (HURREVAC) is a free, web-based platform that provides evacuation timing guidance to government emergency managers. HURREVAC combines real-time National Hurricane Center forecast products and storm surge modeling with evacuation clearance times from Hurricane Evacuation Studies. This comprehensive, introductory session will discuss HURREVAC features and functionality and provide a demonstration of the user interface.

**Please Note: Attendees interested in participating in this post-summit training session must register separately from the summit. Additional session details and the link to register for this session will be provided to approved summit registrants.