Data experts at
the San Diego Supercomputer Center are collaborating with
the American Red Cross and other rescue organizations to make
it easier for persons to locate missing loved ones in the
wake of Hurricane Katrina. SDSC is creating an amalgamated
list containing thousands of names from a number of individual
data searches that have sprung up since the disaster occurred
including The Family Links Registry available through www.redcross.org.
This amalgamated database is available at www.katrinasafe.com.
Many of those affected
have turned to the Web to try and establish contact with family
and friends who have been left homeless because of the storm.
SDSC, a National Science Foundation sponsored supercomputer
center, leveraged its data leadership to create this unique
solution that retrieves name, age, current location and home
address information from existing databases and places it
into one easy to use list. The list is updated to show new
names that are entered and missing individuals that are reunited
with their families.
“SDSC provides
a comprehensive set of data storage and analysis tools and
technologies for the science and engineering research and
education communities,” said Dr. Francine Berman, SDSC
Director, “All of the staff at SDSC want to help, and
we are delighted that we can use our data tools and technologies
to facilitate the difficult and important job of helping identify
and reconnect Katrina’s survivors.”
The SDSC Katrina
team, led by Dr. Chaitan Baru, a renowned data scientist at
SDSC, includes specialists in data management, data storage,
high performance computing and Web development. Jerry Rowley,
Lab Director, Advanced Database Projects Lab, has been coordinating
the daily activities at SDSC, working closely with database
expert, Vishu Nandigam, who is responsible for the daily data
loads and data dissemination from SDSC.
“This is a
perfect example of blending SDSC’s high-tech data tools
and expertise with traditional methods of disaster relief,”
said Baru. “We hope to take this opportunity to use
what we have learned to construct a database system to be
in place even before the next disaster hits.”
In addition, Baru’s
team is working with a San Diego State University group to
combine survivor list information with interactive maps to
further speed the process of victim location.
“The special
partnership of SDSC and SDSU through telecommunications and
real-time mapping provides the unique tools that will both
save lives and many millions of dollars,” said Eric
Frost, co-director, San Diego State University Visualization
Center. “This is a powerful example of cyberinfrastructure
and the marriage of telecommunications and computing have
a huge impact on our world for good.”
These efforts and
other individual contributors across the nation were networked
into a collegial whole by the National Institute for Urban
Search & Rescue, a non-profit organization who numbers
among its members, many of the researchers who joined in this
ad hoc network. Said Lois Clark McCoy, President of NIUSR,
“The joining of two world class educational universities
in this humanitarian effort during the catastrophic events
of Katrina is “people helping people” at its best.”
E-mai E-mail
Janet Howard for any comments
regarding this webpage. Updated daily by University
Communications Office 
