Case Study: City of Gulfport achieves rapid, FEMA-backed infrastructure recovery after Hurricane Katrina with Cityworks

Recovering from Katrina Cityworks Helps Gulfport, Mississippi, Weather the Storm

The City of Gulfport faced catastrophic infrastructure damage after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, with water, sewer, storm drain systems, roads, and thousands of assets destroyed along its Gulf Coast. Having implemented Azteca Systems’ Cityworks GIS-centric asset work management software (supported by ESRI’s ArcGIS) in 2002, the City turned to Cityworks as a central information system during the recovery effort.

Cityworks was back online five days after the storm and was used to map and document waterline breaks, valve locations, damaged assets buried in debris, and cleanup priorities, enabling crews and contractors to work more safely and efficiently. The system helped restore water pressure to 90% of the city within a week, lift the boil-water notice by week three, and restore sewers and signals by week four; it also supported replacement of about 15,000 signs, provided EPA with damage visualizations that led to a FEMA-approved multiyear rebuild of coastal infrastructure (over $100 million), and continues to track new assets—demonstrating measurable impact from Cityworks.

City of Gulfport

Ron Smith

Assistant Director, Public Works