Recap: Preparing for Hurricane Season

For communities impacted by natural disasters year after year, preparation is the most effective way to reduce recovery time, avoid compliance issues, and unlock critical funding. In our recent Preparing for Hurricane Season webinar, Forerunner CEO, JT White, and Hazard Mitigation Lead, Conn Cole, shared guidance on how local governments can strengthen their disaster readiness. The conversation focused on the full disaster life cycle, from the first signs of a storm to long-term rebuilding, with practical steps communities can take to prepare systems and data ahead of disaster.

The team highlighted how communities are using Forerunner for critical emergency management workflows. A case study from Pasco County, Florida, demonstrated how the county used Forerunner to backfill 9,000 Preliminary Damage Assessments and complete over 20,000 Substantial Damage Estimates using the Forerunner mobile app. The county also leveraged AI-powered letter generation and Automated Mailings to send 20,000 outreach letters directly from the platform, improving compliance and keeping residents informed without overwhelming staff.

Forerunner is continuously expanding our emergency management and disaster recovery solutions. We’ve introduced new AI features like photo analysis for inspections and debris management to help reduce manual review time and improve situational awareness. Critical features like location sharing and AI-powered letter generation on our mobile app, available in low-connectivity and offline mode, aim to simplify and streamline fieldwork. Forerunner’s AI-powered platform helps communities act quickly and efficiently across other critical workflows:

• Damage Assessments: Collect and organize property-level data to assess storm impacts and support documentation needs.
• Public Infrastructure Tracking: Monitor and document impacts to roads, bridges, and utilities – helping to prioritize repairs and communicate disruptions.
• Debris Management: Use AI-powered image analysis to estimate debris volumes, track removal requests, and coordinate drop-off sites through Forerunner’s geospatial dashboard.
• Grant Management: Support long-term recovery with tools to manage home elevation and mitigation grant documentation – supporting residents and increasing community resilience.

By centralizing these workflows in one platform, we help reduce manual work, minimize delays, and ensure communities are better prepared for future disasters. As the demands on emergency managers continue to grow, Forerunner is committed to making critical workflows easier and faster so communities can focus on protecting residents and rebuilding stronger.

The webinar presentation can be downloaded here, and the recording is below:

‍

Our webinars are hosted periodically to foster knowledge-sharing within the floodplain management community.

Sign up for our monthly newsletter to be notified about the next one!  Please reach out to support@withforerunner.com or request a demo to learn more about Forerunner.