Hazard Owl – Watching Assets for the Impact of Natural Hazards

Every new building or structure that is constructed within a natural hazard zone is designed to withstand particular levels of disruption from relevant hazards – for instance a new building in an earthquake zone is required to meet particular seismic codes, and a new bridge is designed to withstand certain levels of flood event. Hazard Owl is a platform designed to warn stakeholders of predicted, ongoing, and recent hazards, furnishing them with the information they need to manage the event and its aftermath, such as the type and severity of event, the applicable design standards for the asset, and whether those thresholds have been exceeded. The system uses a web-based front-end, with email alerts triggered at particular danger levels. The website uses FME Server to drive an open source-based system. This talk will highlight the technologies used and demonstrate the system in operation, using live data hazard from around the world.