Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria:

The National Ocean Service Helps Communities Prepare, Respond, and Recover

oceanservice.noaa.gov

On August 9, NOAA issued its 2017 hurricane season outlook update. Forecasters predicted a higher 

likelihood of an above-normal season and they increased the predicted number of named storms and 

major hurricanes. In the following weeks, three major hurricanes—Harvey, Irma, and Maria—impacted 

the United States. The impacted communities are just starting to recover from storms that resulted in 

tragic loss of life and billions of dollars in damage. 

Before, during, and after these storms—as with all major hurricanes that impact the United States—

the National Ocean Service (NOS) provides products, tools, and services to help emergency 

responders, coastal planners, individuals, and businesses make decisions to save lives, protect 

property, and mitigate damage.

The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®), an online mapping tool that provides a common operating picture for 

emergency responders and decision makers, shows the wind swaths and tracks of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.

Scientific Support Teams for Pollution Response

The Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) embedded scientific support coordinators in U.S. Coast Guard Incident 

Command Centers to assist hazardous materials response efforts in areas impacted by all three hurricanes. The office tracked 

thousands of vessels with the potential to leak fuel, oil, or other hazardous materials. The office also provided guidance on 

marine debris and vessel salvage, classified potential targets using aerial imagery, provided environmental consultations for 

marine debris, and coordinated with local responders. 

OR&R also deployed its Environmental Response Management Application, or ERMA®. This online mapping tool integrates 

key information to provide a common operating picture and situational awareness in the areas impacted by the hurricanes.

Rebuilding and Recovery

The Office for Coastal Management hosts the online Digital Coast platform, providing coastal communities with information 

and resources including LIDAR, elevation, and land cover data as well as risk and vulnerability assessments. This office is 

working with state coastal management programs, research reserves, and Sea Grant programs to identify additional needs and 

opportunities for programmatic and environmental permitting assistance that could hasten short- and long-term recovery.

Through its Ecological Effects of Sea Level Rise Program, the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science is funding research to develop 

a modeling tool to predict how barrier islands and sand dunes function and recover following storms. This will improve evaluations of 

how these natural and managed islands recover from storms and change through time under different sea level rise and management 

scenarios. The goal is to better inform coastal communities on how to maximize the ecological and societal benefits of these habitats.

Hurricane Irma passed directly through the Florida Keys, impacting Office of National Marine Sanctuaries facilities and vessels. 

NOS staff embarked on a collaborative effort to evaluate natural resources and joined with other federal and state agencies to 

assess vessels posing environmental and navigational hazards.

Field crews from the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services continue to assess the damage to NOAA’s water level 

stations throughout the impacted areas and provide minor repair where possible. The office is also providing extreme water level data to 

NOAA’s National Weather Service to support refining their models and forecasts and help determine high water mark information.

Looking Ahead

Following these storms, Hurricane Nate brought rain, wind, and damage to the central Gulf Coast. With the potential for 

additional storms throughout the 2017 hurricane season, NOS stands ready to respond as needed. Details about potential future 

response activities will be posted on the NOS website.

oceanservice.noaa.gov

October 2017

NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson

delivered supplies to the 

National Weather Service at 

the U.S.Coast Guard small 

boat pier in San Juan and 

provided equipment to repair 

the NOAA tide gauge station. 

The vessel then traveled to 

Ponce, Roosevelt Roads, and 

Bahia de Puerca on the island’s 

southern shores, where Office 

of Coast Survey hydrographers 

conducted surveys to locate 

hazards to navigation and help 

the ports resume operations.
Preparing for Hurricanes

The Office for Coastal Management provided the elevation 

models and sea level rise data needed to develop storm 

surge forecast maps. Along with the Office of Response and 

Restoration, they also held disaster planning workshops 

to help organizations develop disaster response plans. 

Hurricane Harvey dealt a severe blow to Texas’s MissionAransas research reserve, for instance, but the preparation 

efforts paid off and helped protect staff, reduce damages, 

and expedite post-storm response efforts. The Center for 

Operational Oceanographic Products provided water level 

information to NOAA’s National Weather Service in advance 

of the storms to support storm surge forecasts.

Near Real-time Oceanographic and 

Meteorological Observations

The Center for Operational Oceanographic Products 

and Services provided its Storm QuickLook product 

before and during Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. 

QuickLook provides a synopsis of near real-time ocean 

and weather observations at specific water-level stations 

affected by a tropical storm. The office’s hurricanehardened stations ensured that this real-time information 

was available when most needed.

The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS ®) 

worked closely with its Caribbean (CARICOOS), Gulf of 

Mexico (GCOOS), and Southeastern U.S. (SECOORA) 

regional associations to provide ocean observations before, 

during, and after all three storms with equipment such as highfrequency radars and gliders. Data collected by these regional 

associations helps to improve future hurricane forecasting.

Coordinating Response Efforts 

Before Hurricane Harvey made landfall, NOS dispatched 

a coastal advisor to FEMA’s National Response 

Coordination Center. This expert helped FEMA to 

coordinate delivery of NOS services to support responses 

to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Throughout the 

duration of these storms, the Office of Response and 

Restoration also led daily calls on the coordination of 

preparedness and response efforts. The office is home 

to the NOAA Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center 

in Mobile, Alabama, which hosts trainings, drills, and 

workshops with and for partners while enhancing NOAA’s 

coordination and emergency planning to conduct an 

organized and effective response.

Aerial Imagery for Damage Assessment

As soon as weather permitted, the National Geodetic Survey 

(NGS) began aerial survey missions to assess damages to 

areas affected by the hurricanes. The data and images NGS 

collected were rapidly processed and provided to emergency 

and coastal managers, often within hours of collection. 

The information was used to develop recovery strategies, 

facilitate search-and-rescue efforts, identify hazards to 

navigation and HAZMAT spills, locate errant vessels, and 

provide documentation necessary for damage assessment.

Hurricane Harvey

From August 27 - September 3, 2017, NGS collected 25,560 

images covering more than 16,000 square kilometers of 

Texas that included Corpus Christi and Back Bay areas; 

Houston and suburbs; Galveston; Liberty; and Beaumont.

Hurricane Irma

From September 11 - 18, 2017, NGS collected 23,915 

images covering more than 5,800 square kilometers of 

impacted area including the Florida Keys, Naples, Fort 

Myers, Jacksonville, and Tampa in Florida as well as 

Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina. 

Hurricane Maria

From September 22 - 26, 2017, NGS collected 15,373 

images covering more than 1,900 square kilometers that 

included Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Hydrographic Surveys to Reopen Ports

As the storms approached, the Office of Coast Survey (OCS) 

regional navigation managers were embedded at U.S. Coast 

Guard Incident Command Centers to coordinate poststorm surveys and other support. Immediately following the 

hurricanes, OCS navigation response teams (NRTs) and the 

mobile integrated survey team (MIST) provided emergency 

hydrographic services for affected port areas. These 

emergency response teams use echo sounders to detect 

submerged obstructions and areas of shoaling that pose 

hazards to the delivery of emergency supplies and maritime 

commerce. The U.S. Coast Guard relies on these quickresponse surveys to make decisions on reopening ports. Storm QuickLooks provide near real-time ocean and weather observations.

Damage to facilities at the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve 

following Hurricane Harvey.

View of the first fuel ship entering the Port of Tampa after Hurricane Irma, taken by a 

NOAA navigation response team surveying the area.

NOS collected more than 65,000 images following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and 

Maria. This image shows St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

BEFORE

AFTER

Hurricane Harvey

OCS surveyed the Texas ports of Corpus Christi and 

Seadrift/Matagorda and provided survey support 

toward the reopening of ports in Houston and 

Galveston. The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries 

provided the R/V Manta as a vessel of opportunity for 

MIST survey operations.

Hurricane Irma

OCS surveyed and supported the reopening of ports in 

Tampa, Miami, and Key West, Florida.

Hurricane Maria

OSC deployed the MIST and NOAA Ship Thomas 

Jefferson to the Caribbean. As of October 13, 2017, 

14 locations and 19 port facilities were surveyed to 

support port reopenings in Puerto Rico and the U.S. 

Virgin Islands. 

The Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and 

Services supported these efforts. For example, during 

Hurricane Irma, the office provided updates on the 

operations of water level gauges and tide coordination 

for emergency hydrographic surveys conducted within 

Miami, Tampa, Key West, and Savannah.