CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's been one month since deadly tornadoes tore through Tennessee counties and left serious devastation.
Since then, many have jumped in to help. One team — part of a data center at Austin Peay State University — used a special computer system to get assistance to victims faster.
They specialize in a kind of mapping that runs applications like Google Maps.
Mike Wilson, the director of the APSU GIS Center, said this unique technology, short for geographic information systems, helped find the areas hardest hit by the tornado.
Watch in the player above how this worked to help storm victims.
"I'm not a first responder, but what we can do is use this technology to assist," he said.
While his partner Doug flew the drone, Mike tracked 911 calls, road closures, and later, property assessments, to pinpoint who needed help most.
All the data, shared with Montgomery County Emergency Management, quickly sent help to damaged neighborhoods, pointed volunteers clearing debris in the right direction, and even showed who would be most in need of food donations.
"The sooner we collect this data, the sooner we can get help to the people that need it most," said Wilson.
He said the advanced nature of GIS allowed them to do the work in hours, compared to what would've taken weeks in prior years.
The team added four or five APSU students to help with the mapping during the disaster.
The center has assisted in natural disasters before, including prior tornadoes and floods in Montgomery County.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
