How Disaster Relief Australia coordinates 2,500 members with post-cat intelligence
Jan 2023
Instead of using 11,000 drone batteries, Nearmap provided higher-resolution, more cost-effective imagery of impacted areas.
Jan 2023
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“Nearmap provides us the solution we need to maximise our resources and provide the greatest benefit to our communities.”
Richard AdamsNational Director, Disaster Relief Australia
More accurate allocation of recovery resources
Faster initial damage assessments
Safer operations with clearer picture of risk
The challenge
Navigating post-disaster recovery
Disaster Relief Australia operates in the recovery phase, as opposed to the response phase, says Richard Adams, National Director, Disaster Relief Australia. He says the organisation identified a gap between the emergency response stage and the assistance communities required post-disaster.
“We bring a suite of capabilities, from manual labour through to more specialised tasks such as deploying our own incident management teams, medical teams and training teams,” he says. “We do everything from debris removal, including people swinging chainsaws and cutting down burnt trees, through to mucking out houses after floods.”
DRA needed to have aerial imagery as part of its work with state governments, local authorities and private property owners. In the past, the organisation had relied on drones to get the imagery it needed. It realised the deficiencies of drone imagery when providing relief after the Kangaroo Island bushfires in the summer of 2019-20, which were a result of lightning strikes on December 20 of that year.
DRA needed to have aerial imagery as part of its work with state governments, local authorities and private property owners. In the past, the organisation had relied on drones to get the imagery it needed. It realised the deficiencies of drone imagery when providing relief after the Kangaroo Island bushfires in the summer of 2019-20, which were a result of lightning strikes on December 20 of that year.
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The deficiency of drones
Kangaroo Island has a landmass of 4,405 square kilometres, which means it’s not a small place. Adams created a drone flight plan for the island, and quickly realised that getting the required imagery would have required over 11,000 batteries. Nearmap provided a better, higher-resolution, and more cost-effective solution
The solution
Big picture perspective
DRA was introduced to Nearmap towards the end of 2019, and the organisation immediately realised the capability to survey large areas, and in particular areas where drones couldn’t be used, was extremely valuable.
Over the course of a month on Kangaroo Island, the DRA team helped with clearing burnt houses, repairing fences and restoring property access—essential tasks that otherwise would not get done.
“Nearmap surveyed the entire island and for me that was a good example of comparing aviation platforms to drones,” says Adams.
The DRA team used Nearmap imagery to give its teams a better idea of what they were getting themselves into, rather than just showing up and hoping for the best.
“It increased our ability to plan and to deploy the teams with the right equipment,” he says. Adams notes that when an organisation relies on volunteers, they’re a critical resource and one that’s only available for short periods of time. Using Nearmap imagery gave DRA the ability to use them as effectively as possible within a short timeframe.
DRA also used Nearmap imagery when it helped to clear areas after fires in the Buchan Valley, located in East Gippsland, Victoria. It’s an area with dispersed properties, and one that doesn’t easily lend itself to the use of drones.
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Adams says that the geographical area also meant that simply driving around and looking at properties wasn’t going to work for clean-up efforts. “It would mean hours of driving,” he says. “So, for Bushfire Recovery Victoria, we used Nearmap imagery—including some close in shots of each property, with simple information such as the buildings destroyed.”
In other instances, DRA would create a summary, looking at areas such as the main risks identified on a property; including whether experts such as structural engineers needed to look at a structure and assess its soundness.
The impact
Maximising resources
According to Adams, Nearmap imagery has given DRA a much better idea of what’s required for its disaster relief efforts, especially in large areas. This means being able to focus their drone teams on smaller, more appropriate tasks, while also reducing the inefficiency of putting people in cars to drive to each property to undertake initial impact assessments.
“The more people who can have access to a tool that provides them with that situational awareness, the better,” Adams says.
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“When there’s a lack of situational awareness, people get distracted. When the red and blue lights go away, resources disappear and that includes being able to analyse the situation and address it effectively. Nearmap provides us the solution we need to maximize our resources and provide the greatest benefit to our communities.”
Post-disaster intelligence trusted by recovery teams
Get a clear view of damage through post-catastrophe imagery that enables rapid assessment, response, and recovery planning to help those affected get back to their normal lives faster.
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When the fire is out and the floodwaters recede, the flurry of activity associated with emergency response subsides. It’s also when communities affected by disaster need the next wave of help. Meet Disaster Relief Australia.