Letter from Joy Bonaguro Greater New Orleans Community Data Center

1. To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Joy Bonaguro and I have worked for the Greater New Orleans Community
Data Center (the Data Center) since March of 2002. Prior to August 2005, the Data
Center published a data website about all 73 neighborhoods in New Orleans and the
surrounding 9 parishes (counties). We are members of the National Neighborhood
Indicators Partnership at the Urban Institute.
When Hurricane Katrina landed just east of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, our
website became an indispensable tool for all levels of government and the media to
explore and understand demographic, historic, and spatial data about New Orleans.
One of our most frequently used products was an elevation map of the city published on
August 29. However, this map contained an error—we had used feet instead of meters in
our legend and in effect; we were underestimating the potential impact of flooding. This
mistake happened for two reasons. One, our staff was scattered across the country with
little to no internet access and our ability to fact check was inhibited, and secondly, the
metadata for the dataset was unavailable.
This is when Roland Shield stepped up and in effect, extended our stretched staff. He
pulled together data and information from GIS websites, including the buried FAQ that
served as metadata for the elevation dataset, and contacted us warning that the legend
was incorrect.
The impact of Roland’s effort was far-reaching. The elevation map was soon replicated in
countless newspapers and blogs around the world. Even more importantly, it was used by
the victims of Katrina, where for some it was the only indication of whether their home
was at risk.
As the person responsible for creating the map, it was a tremendous relief to be able to
lean on external expertise during the crisis. And the graciousness with which Roland
conveyed the error indicated a genuine desire to help versus correct.
Roland serves as a model of how to apply your expertise in a crisis. His assistance was
timely, evidence-based, and appropriate. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Sincerely,
Joy Bonaguro
Greater New Orleans Community Data Center