Module 5 - Hazards: Damage Assessment.

 


In the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s landfall in New Jersey, we conducted a GIS-based structural damage assessment focused on a section of the impacted coastline. The goal was to digitize damage data using FEMA-relevant categories and determine patterns in relation to distance from the shoreline. This assessment provided crucial insights that could support insurance claims, emergency response planning, and future risk mitigation strategies.

To complete the analysis, we first created a polyline feature class to represent the pre-storm coastline using historical imagery. Then, using post-storm aerial photos, we manually digitized points for each structure along a specific stretch of the coast and classified them into five damage categories: No Damage, Affected, Minor Damage, Major Damage, and Destroyed. We created buffer zones at 100-meter intervals from the coastline to segment the structures into distance bands and used spatial analysis tools to calculate the number of structures per damage category within each buffer zone.

Final Results:

Our results indicate a strong correlation between proximity to the coastline and severity of damage. Structures within 100 meters of the shoreline experienced the most destruction, while less damage was observed beyond 200 meters. This analysis highlights the importance of distance as a factor in storm vulnerability and provides insight that could support future coastal planning and resilience efforts.


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