Picking up the Pieces: Utilizing Disaster Recovery Project Management to Improve Readiness and Response Time

AS IT CROSSED THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, Tropical Storm Georges grew and on 17 September 1998 became a full-fledged hurricane that would build to a Category 4 storm at its strongest. Hurricane Georges crossed the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, wreaking destruction on the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, and the Florida Keys, before finally hitting the U.S. Gulf Coast. Georges was responsible for approximately 500 deaths and over US$5 billion in damages. Fig. 1 shows the path of the destructive hurricane. On 28 September 1998, the hurricane hit land at Biloxi, Mississippi, USA, as a Category 2 storm with 105-mph sustained winds with gusts measured at up to 175 mph. There, the storm stalled for over 17 hours, pounding the area with its 12-foot storm surge, while dumping 16.68 in of rain [1], Fig. 2 gives an indication of the size of the hurricane and the area affected as Georges stalled upon striking land.