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Lee County, Ill., App Streamlines Post-Storm Cleanup, Repairs

Using crowdsourced data on damaged buildings, the app helps emergency workers follow not only the track of the storm, but also where it hit hardest.

(TNS) -- The last thing public agencies want to worry about after a horrific storm hits is paperwork.

But paperwork is often the only way to get much-needed federal funding to help with cleanup and repairs.

Now – and excuse the cliché – Lee County has an app for that.

The whole thing started because Kevin Lalley, director of emergency services, has terrible handwriting. He said so himself, laughing, during an interview Tuesday afternoon.

"I have poor penmanship," he said. "I didn't pay attention in school, so typing for me is better."

And, undoubtedly, when filling out file after file after file of damage assessments after a storm, his handwriting would only get more illegible.

The county IT/GIS department, it turns out, had a solution.

The smartphone application that GIS Analyst Thomas O'Malley created, at no cost to the county, uses GPS to automatically input the address of whatever structure you're standing in front of. It then offers the user a drop-down menu, which asks the person to gauge the severity of damage to the structure.

If the person assessing damage can't tell whether there had been a structure where they're standing, a map can be pulled up within the app that shows a satellite image of the area.

All of that data is then input to a file that's sent directly to FEMA.

The coolest feature, though, is that as app users are doing damage assessment in the field, the data is fed in real time to a computer where emergency workers can follow not only the track of the storm, but where it hit hardest.

Once damage assessments are completed, they will appear as one of four colors of markers – varied based on severity.

Damage assessors can also include symbols for whether a tree has fallen or a wire is down. Once it's been cleared by emergency workers, someone in the central office can click on the tree or wire marker and remove it.

"It's going to make things quicker and a lot easier," Lalley said.

©2015 the Daily Gazette (Sterling, Ill.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.