ML161612
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Subject 1: (Interview). Subtitle: Suzette Kimball - Address. Timecode In: 00:07:47. Timecode out: 00:31:49. Notes: Hurricane Katrina; USGS. Subject 2: (Interview). Subtitle: Greg Smith. Timecode In: 00:35:44. Timecode out: 01:08:31. Notes: Hurricane Katrina; USGS. Subject 3: (Sound Effects). Subtitle: Map unrolling. Timecode In: 01:13:22. Timecode out: 01:13:27. Subject 4: (Interview). Subtitle: Scott Wilson, Jim Grace. Timecode In: 01:13:27. Timecode out: 01:35:34. Notes: Hurricane Katrina; USGS. Equipment Notes: Two-Channel Mono. Show: Louisiana - Katrina Date: 09/14/05 SK = Suzette Kimball GS = Greg Smith SW = Scott Wilson JGr = Jim Grace CJ = Chris Joyce JG = Jessica Goldstein USGS Meeting SK speaking until 31:49 47:28 GS: This is what we produced almost on the second day so that we could frame the way we were approaching the natural disaster response and basically we needed to in the midst of this disaster to be able to effectively organize our thinking and our actions and our response. And so we took a 3-fold approach, all of which moved simultaneously but first and foremost was to provide the science that first responders needed. The science and technology that enabled them to save human lives. 48:08 GS: And we're very proud that volunteers from our center with the fish and wildlife service and other federal agencies were involved in that search and rescue operation right here in new Orleans. As it turns out that we in lafayette with the fish and wildlife service and USGS had the skills and training and equipment to effectively bring search and rescue teams into the flooded area. We have boats, we have people trained in first aid and CPR and more importantly, in the operation of the boat, the safe operation so we were actually paired by FEMA with the city of phoenix fire batallion #4. they brought 82 people from the city of phoenix here with equipment including things like oxygen and masks and medical supplies ATVs and all sorts of equipment, but no boats. 49:09 GS: So it was impossible for them to access these areas without the use of our flat bottom shallow water boats that we use in wetlands research. So that pairing of us and the phoenix fire department was brilliant. And it enabled all of us to get into these effected areas and Really rescue people and bring them to safety 49:33 CJ: what do you do now? USGS will be at the forefront of finding out what happened to the natural world. What do you know, what do you need to know, how to find? 50:13 GS: well first of all we know that there's been physical impact to wetlands and other natural habitats that support endangered species including those species that we're only now beginning to address, like the ivory billed woodpecker. We deployed aircraft immediately to do a habitat assessment of the situation. Looking at wetland loss, impacts, and habitat loss. 50:39 And we've now have satellite imagery and other high resolution imagery that can help us assess those impacts. I think our next steps are to understand the conservational landscape in a changed environment. And to learn from the impacts that this storm has had on the natural environments, the habitat, the fish, and wildlife species. And especially those species that rely on these areas for their life history strategy. CJ: such as... 51:13 GS: Right now we are beginning and actually moving rapidly into the middle of the fall migration for migratory bird populations. And we have birds that are rapidly assembling on parts of the Louisiana coast that have been devastated. The pearl river area we have imagery from our radar ornithology studies that show an immediate impact of bird use in this environment. The birds were there before the hurricane, and the birds are no longer there. 51:46 GS: and that means that those birds that would normally fly south and... (Notes truncated)
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- Cataloged
- 16 Apr 2010 - Ben Brotman
- Digitized
- 16 Apr 2010 - Ben Brotman
- Edited
- 16 Apr 2010 - Ben Brotman