APSU’s GIS Center and Oak Ridge Receive $400,000 Grant for Cell Phone App Program
April 14, 2011
Clarksville, TN – On a stormy Monday afternoon, while tornado sirens blared across the Austin Peay State University campus, Mike Wilson, manager of the school’s Geographic Information Systems Center, decided to talk about natural disasters.
“Suppose a tornado rips through here,” he said, knocking on his wood desk to ward off the suggestion. “If that happens, local officials will need to do a preliminary damage assessment. That’ll go to the state, and the governor will make a decision on whether to call in FEMA for a natural disaster. This app speeds that up.”
Wilson motioned to his Android mobile phone. A year ago, his office, in conjunction with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, developed an innovative new cell phone application known as the Disaster Mitigation and Recovery Kit (DMARK). The application allows emergency responders to document immediately any damage they come across following a disaster. [Read more]
