Several customers have asked CDS for some information on Hurricane Katrina. Most of the questions had to do with locating aerial/satellite imagery for the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. Below is some information on that, as well as information from FEMA regarding flooding and damage estimates.

Due to the geographic scope and work involved in georeferencing images, it is unlikely that you will be able to get useful aerial photos of the damaged areas. Aerial photos are very high resolution, but cover relatively small swaths of land. They also need to be georeferenced (matched to an area on the earth) and orthorectified (bent to match terrain, due to the fact that the camera may not have been looking straight down when shooting). Both of these are very time consuming, and since it must be done for many photos, it’s not practical. Therefore, satellite imagery is probably a better option.

There are only 2 commercial satellites flying that provide visible spectrum color images that are very high in detail. The most well known one is Quickbird from Space Imaging. These are roughly 1-meter photographs, and should be suitable for assessing damage on the ground. They have posted some images on their Web site ( http://www.spaceimaging.com). In addition, CDS has been told that Google has these images and GlobeXplorer as well. FEMA has also released some damage photos.

Now, how do you use them? We get our imagery through a company called GlobeXplorer. They have a great map server that can give you aerial/satellite images for any area. In addition, they also make a plug-in for MapInfo Professional software (and ArcView too) that allows you to pull the images into MapInfo easily. This feature is called ImageConnect, and you can download it on the GlobXplorer Web site (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ypvjxobab.0.0.vgechabab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.globexplorer.com). ImageConnect allows you to pull the georeferenced images into MapInfo. You can then use the images to trace areas that have been destroyed. This will allow you to compare the destroyed areas against other layers, such as your policies.

FEMA has released a good amount of information related to the hurricane. CDS believes the most valuable is a layer that shows the areas that were inundated by flood. Currently, FEMA has a GIS layer that shows the areas that were flooded, and they can be used as outlined above. Additionally, they have also released GIS maps with damage estimates as to how severe the damage is. These maps can be found at: http://www.gismaps.fema.gov/2005pages/rsdrkatrina. shtm

In addition, there are PDF images of these maps at: http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ypvjxobab.0.0.vgechabab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gismaps.fema.gov%2F2005graphics%2Fstorms%2FKatrina%2Frs_Damage_overview_090805_1800.pdf

We have already translated these into MapInfo, and would be glad to share these with you for free. We only ask that any maps credit CDS Business Mapping and FEMA. Here's a list of what we have:

Flood and wind damage in the following 14 counties:

Louisiana counties affected:
Orleans
St. Charles
St. Bernard
Lafourche
Plaquemines
Jefferson
Livingston
Tangipahoa
St. Tammany

Mississippi counties affected:
Hancock
Harrison
Jackson


Alabama counties affected:
Mobile
Baldwin

Flood Damage
Almost all of the counties experienced flooding. The counties hardest hit were: Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Charles, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Hancock and Harrison.

Wind Damage
All of the counties experienced some level of wind damage. Hancock and Harrison counties have large areas of catastrophic damage.

Transportation
We also have information about impassable roads, bridges and railroads. The majority of these are in Louisiana but Mississippi and Alabama have some as well.

Power
We have a map showing counties shaded by % of customers without power. This map covers the affected areas.

We also have information about oil refineries (reduced capacity or shut down) and airfields. CDS is still reviewing those .pdfs.

Thanks & best of luck during this crisis.

Dan Munson, VP of Sales & Marketing, CDS Business Mapping
Tel: 617.737.4444
Email: dmunson@cdsys.com

CDS has just added PA to its Distance to Fire Station report. This brings the total number of states to 22.
The distance between a property and the primary fire station directly affects your loss ratio. Regardless of the training, personnel or equipment at a station, if an insured location is greater than 5 miles from a station the chance of a large loss is inevitable. By simply typing in an address, you will get: driving distance to local responding fire stations, names of the stations and staffing (career or volunteer).

We will continue to add more states until we meet our goal of providing nationwide coverage. We want your feedback to see which states we should add next. If there is a state you would like to see us add, please contact Jamie Munson at 860.854.6125 or jmunson@cdsys.com. In addition, we also have responding fire district boundaries for the following states: CA, FL, HI, IL, KS, MS, ND and VA.

The RiskMeter Online has added another vital piece of information to its Flood report. Not only will the RiskMeter Online return SFHA, Community Name and Number, Zone, Panel Number and Date, FIPS Code and Census Tract, BUT it will also tell you if a policy falls in or out of a COBRA (Coastal Barriers Resource Act) Zone. This is now automatically added to all flood reports at no additional cost. For more information, please contact your account executive today!

Based upon feedback from companies and agents, CDS is looking into adding building characteristic information to the RiskMeter Online. We would have a short form, which will return square footage and year built, and a long form, with additional information, such as number of stories, roof type, construction type, sales price, etc. These would be available for both homes and commercial properties. CDS is trying to gauge the interest in these reports. If you are interested, CDS would like your feedback. Please contact Dan Munson at 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com

CDS is pleased to announce an upgrade to its Web based replacement cost estimator on the RiskMeter Online. This new tool still utilizes the same familiar user-friendly interface and generates a very accurate replacement cost based on a minimum number of required fields. However, if you would like to “dig deeper”, clicking on the new View/Edit components button, allows you to confirm or edit all of the interior features of the home, for a higher degree of precision. For more information on this cutting-edge feature, please contact Maria Francis at 617.737.4444 or mfrancis@cdsys.com

CDS will be exhibiting at the following upcoming conferences. Whether you're a customer or prospect, we'd love to meet with you onsite at these exceptional events! Feel free to stop by our booth or if you wish to schedule an appointment, please contact Dan Munson at 617.737.4444 dmunson@cdsys.com or Bradley Sherwin at 310.546.5696 bsherwin@cdsys.com

Napslo Annual Convention
September 14 - 18, 2005 *San Francisco, CA

American Agents Alliance Conference & Expo
September 28 - October 2, 2005 *Indian Wells, CA

CPCU Society Annual Meeting
October 22 – 25, 2005 *Atlanta, GA

AAMGA Annual Meeting
November 10 – 12, 2005 *Rancho Mirage, CA

In order to help you utilize the RiskMeter Online more effectively, we are now offering FREE Online training. This is a great way for your organization to have its most pressing questions answered, learn about reading various risk reports and how to utilize cutting-edge features, such as: Birdseye Geocoding, One Click Ruler and Manual Placement. To register for an upcoming Webcast, click on one of the links below or for more information, contact Maria Francis at 617.737.4444 or mailto:mfrancis@cdsys.com

National
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
1:00 pm- 2:00 pm (EDT)
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ypvjxobab.0.0.vgechabab.0&p=https%3A%2F%2Fcdsys.webex.com

Western Risks
Thursday, October 13, 2005
1:00 pm- 2:00 pm (EDT)
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ypvjxobab.0.0.vgechabab.0&p=https%3A%2F%2Fcdsys.webex.com

National
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
1:00 pm- 2:00 pm (EDT)
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ypvjxobab.0.0.vgechabab.0&p=https%3A%2F%2Fcdsys.webex.com

Would you like the opportunity to evaluate any one of our risk reports without obligation? You can now! For a limited time you will be able to test-drive any RiskMeter Online report for FREE! Take advantage of this exceptional opportunity to see how a particular risk report can benefit your organization. To add a FREE, one-month risk report to your account, please call 617.737.4444.

Carriers

• Quincy Mutual
• Mercury Insurance - Commercial Lines
• United Insurance - Commercial Lines

• Specialty Insurance Managers

• Acordia Mtn West
• Allco Fullerton
• Allco Fullerton #2
• Allied North America
• Brooke Insurance
• Brown and Brown of CA
• Collinsworth, Alter, Nielson, Fowler, & Dowling
• D and R Insurance
• Gibbs Insurance
• Insurance Associates of Destin
• ISU Calgard
• Jay Pogue
• Klein Insurance
• Multi-County Insurance
• N.J. Maltz Insurance Services
• PSA Realty & Insurance

Having a hard time managing your inbox? You can now receive the RiskMeter eNewsletter via regular mail. To get the latest issue of the RiskMeter newsletter delivered to your office (when it becomes available), please email Paul Ptashnick at: pptashnick@cdsys.com

Dan Munson, VP of Marketing & Sales
Tel: 617.737.4444
Email: dmunson@cdsys.com

Jamie Munson, Director of Consulting Services
Tel: 860.854.6125
Email: jmunson@cdsys.com

Bradley Sherwin, Account Executive
Tel: 310.546.5696
Email: bsherwin@cdsys.com

Dave Poitras, Account Executive
Tel: 617.737.4444
Email: dpoitras@cdsys.com

Maria Francis, Customer Support Consultant
Tel: 617.737.4444
Email: mfrancis@cdsys.com

If you would like more information on any of the topics discussed in this newsletter, please contact Dan Munson, VP of Marketing & Sales at: 617.737.4444 or dmunson@cdsys.com

Please forward this free newsletter to a friend or colleague who might benefit from it. We only ask that you send the entire newsletter. Thanks!

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