Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

Community Mapping Event to Evaluate Nashville Tornado Recovery Progress during National Public Health Week

4/5/2023

Nashville, TN - The Public Health Program at Meharry Medical College is partnering with local communities to conduct a community mapping event on April 5th, 2023, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The event is part of National Public Health Week and aims to evaluate the recovery progress of the 2020 Nashville tornado in North Nashville using community mapping.

The event will involve members from Meharry and other local communities who will perform visual assessments of recorded damaged properties. The resulting photos and new variables will be added to the interactive mapping site at http://www.immappler.com/nashtornado. The objective of the event is to better understand the impact of natural disasters on individual properties and communities, explore the use of technology, specifically smartphones, in post-disaster assessment and recovery efforts, and gain experience in data collection and analysis.

The event is scheduled for 3 hours and requires each team to consist of three to four persons. The Mapplerk3 app will be used as a community mapping tool, and participants are required to have a smartphone and access to transportation for their assigned team. The event will take place in the 2nd Floor classroom at the Clay Sympson Building (MPH Program and Public Health Initiatives), at Meharry Medical College.

Dr. Wansoo Im, email: wim@mmc.edu, emphasized the importance of community involvement and collaboration in post-disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts. "This event will help us understand the recovery progress after the 2020 Nashville tornado and identify areas where we can improve our response to such disasters," said Dr. Im.

In addition to the community mapping event, another community mapping event will be held to assess food access in the North Nashville area in partnership with Nashville Food Projects and the National Center for Community Mapping at Meharry Medical College on April 15th, 2023.

To participate in the community mapping event, please click the following link: 

https://www.communitymap.net/nashville-tornado