From 10/7-9/22, members of the broader SERVIR network provided scientific backstopping to the Coordination Centre for the Prevention of Natural Disasters in Central America (CEPREDENAC, in Spanish), in preparation for Hurricane Julia’s landfall in the region. That support was provided in the context of the joint statement signed between NASA’s Earth Science Division and the Central American Integration System (SICA, in Spanish), for which CEPREDENAC is a specialized technical body.
SERVIR AST Principal Investigator (PI) Professor Jim Nelson of Brigham Young University, supported by Betzy Hernandez and Emil Cherrington of the SERVIR SCO, provided walk-throughs to CEPREDENAC and personnel from national emergency management offices in the use of the GEOGloWS ECMWF Streamflow HydroViewer. The HydroViewer was originally developed with SERVIR support and helps identify rivers reaches at risk of flooding. Previously, in November 2020, similar support was provided to CEPREDENAC in preparation for Hurricanes Eta and Iota. As a result of the support provided, CEPREDENAC has integrated HydroViewer outputs into its regional disaster monitoring dashboard for Hurricane Julia.
