Students create hurricane relief app

Two University of North Georgia (UNG) students pursuing degrees in environmental spatial analysis have created an app aimed at helping people find available resources in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Augusta, Georgia. Their goal is for the app to be able to assist residents and local organizations after future natural disasters as well.

Alec Reeb, who had friends and family near Asheville, North Carolina, an area also impacted by Helene, and Dawson Yang, who plans to pursue a master’s degree in meteorology, were inspired to discover a way to assist in a hard-hit area after Helene.

"What am I good at and what can I do?" Reeb said. "I thought of using my skills in GIS to help."

Together the two created a dynamic dashboard in the Survey123 app through ArcGIS, a platform that allows users to build interactive online maps and dashboards. The focus areas of the app are shelter locations, supply drives and updated hazard listings with the ability to upload photos.

Reeb and Yang were already working on the app before Dr. Katayoun Mobasher, encouraged them to use it as a data acquisition and management class project to give them more time to work on it. Mobasher, a professor of geology and geographic information systems (GIS) in UNG's Lewis F. Rogers Institute for Environmental and Spatial Analysis (IESA), said Reeb, Yang and other students in the course jumped at the chance to explore topics of interest to them.

"They have that sense of ownership with their projects. You can hear it and sense it," Mobasher said. "You see their critical thinking and problem-solving."

Reeb and Yang put together the information in October before launching the app in November.

"Without the skills I learned in IESA, I don't think we would have been able to do this," Yang said.

In addition to creating the app, Reeb and Yang partnered with fellow IESA students, including Laken Ferrell and Will Wilson, to collect supplies and $1,500 to contribute to the relief efforts in Augusta.

Reeb, who plans to pursue a master's degree in physical geography, has been grateful for the chance to connect with Emily Zeilberger, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) emergency management specialist team lead in Region 4, during this process.

"The most rewarding part was making connections in the field and developing an app that can be useful in future disasters," Reeb said.