NLT & Canopy Weather Partner to Provide FEMA Crucial Disaster Information in Response of Deadly Tornadoes

WASHINGTON, June 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- New Light Technologies (NLT) and Canopy Weather, a leading provider of weather data products, recently announced a collaboration to provide the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other organizations critical data for disaster response during major tornadoes. The firms are providing the agency with near-real-time tornado tracks that support enhanced situational awareness for effective disaster response when major tornadoes hit. 

About 1,200 tornadoes hit the U.S. every year, causing, on average, 70 fatalities, 1,500 injuries, and significant damage and destruction. Wind from tornadoes can reach more than 300 miles per hour, and damage paths can be more than one mile wide and 50 miles long. It is likely that with the impacts of climate change, the frequency and severity of deadly tornadoes will increase, putting vulnerable populations and critical infrastructure at risk. When a tornado makes landfall, FEMA must rapidly gather information on the size, scope, extent and potential impacts of the tornado in order to efficiently deliver resources to the communities most in need.

Through this collaboration, NLT, a renowned leader in the development of disaster analytics and delivery of real-time decision-support systems for emergency management, works directly with FEMA to provide the agency with accurate swaths of all tornados making touchdown in the US continent and its territory within minutes after they do. Relying on innovative proprietary technologies and data, Canopy Weather's team of meteorologists and scientists are able to record the exact path of any tornado and generate an accurate, granular swath, immediately upon impact.

"This collaboration with NLT allows us to serve FEMA and first responders, which enables them to respond with unparalleled speed and precision, clearing the 'information fog' within minutes after a tornado strikes," said Matt Van Every, CEO of Canopy Weather. "In real time, tornadoes are incredibly difficult to pin down at the street or building level, let alone which side of a town was hit. Our team of meteorologists have been working toward this tornado capability for almost a decade. Previously, it typically took days to gather information about what was or was not hit; now it's mere hours."

On December 10, 2021, a swarm of tornadoes tore a 200-mile path through the U.S. Midwest and South, causing large-scale significant damage and impacting close to 80 victims, including in Mayfield, Kentucky. More than $64 million in federal assistance have been approved for Kentucky homeowners, business owners and renters. Immediately after the incident, FEMA's Response Geospatial Office (RGO) received through NLT the precise storm track and tornado swath, which were used to prioritize areas that have likely been impacted and where local populations are especially vulnerable. The derived analytics were used to inform FEMA's leadership as well as President Biden about the potential impacts of the disaster.

According to Dr. Ran Goldblatt, NLT's Chief Scientist, this data was vital for FEMA`s situational awareness during the historic December 10-11 storms and tornadoes. "Knowing the storm tracks and tornado swaths in close to real time is crucial for rapid and efficient situational awareness," said Goldblatt. "When automatically integrated with other tools, such as the Tool for Emergency and Prioritizing Operations (TEMPO), FEMA can better understand the potential impacts of deadly tornadoes upon vulnerable communities and critical community functionalities."    

For over 20 years NLT has been providing organizations with all-hazard, risk-based geospatial and data analytic modeling and simulation services. "Our partnership with Canopy Weather is an example of a fruitful collaboration between leading data and service providers that leads to real time analytics to convert data into saving-lives actions," said Rob Pitts, NLT's Program Manager. "Our goal is to leverage the best available disaster-related data and to combine it with NLT's advanced modeling tools to provide FEMA with the necessary insights to improve disaster operations," said Pitts.

New Light Technologies Inc. (NLT) is a leading provider of integrated science, technology, and mission services with over 20 years of experience serving government and commercial organizations. Offering renowned expertise in cloud, agile software development, cybersecurity, data science, geospatial and remote sensing, NLT provides comprehensive consulting, research, digital transformation services, and fit-for-purpose analytics solutions for a range of industries from emergency management to economics to health. NLT offers distinctive capabilities in the delivery of secure cloud-native platforms and web-based decision support tools and has pioneered predictive disaster risk analytics in support of homeland security missions. To learn more visit www.NewLightTechnologies.com.

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SOURCE New Light Technologies and Canopy Weather