K&A experts are providing vital expertise in response to tragic Beirut port explosion

Following the massive explosion on 4 August that shook the whole of Beirut and far beyond, K&A mobilized its experts’ skills and knowledge to the High Relief Committee (HRC) and Lebanese government authorities to support relief and reconstruction efforts.

The terrible blast destroyed much of the port and severely damaged dense residential and commercial areas within a two-mile radius – where more than 750,000 people live. It is considered one of Beirut’s biggest disasters, having left parts of the city in ruins while causing more than 200 deaths and leaving thousands injured, with many more homeless.

“We wanted to provide the best help we could for our people and country and act as quickly as possible in the face of this massive tragedy,” said Samir Khatib, K&A’s Executive Vice President. “One of the most important relief efforts at this critical time has been to assess the immediate impact of the disaster in order to secure funding for recovery and reconstruction in the immediate and short term.”

From day one, a technical team of specialists was rapidly deployed on the ground to conduct impact assessments. They visited severely damaged residential and commercial buildings in the most affected neighborhoods including Karantina, Gemayze, Medawar, and Remeil to carry out surveys, visual inspections, and investigations of building structures and damage patterns. This has helped classify areas at high risk, as well as identifying households that were in urgent need of evacuation and funding relief.

K&A has also submitted a thorough study and recommendation report for the severely damaged Lebanon Electricity Company (EDL) headquarters. Our team is currently extending its assessment efforts to investigate the port’s infrastructure.

Commenting on our damage assessment efforts, Senior Director – Geospatial Systems Integration, Manal El Sayed said: “We leveraged geospatial technology from the beginning to support the disaster and crisis response. K&A established a geospatial portal for HRC to manage the assessment activities. This initiative was supported by Esri, which donated the cloud-based mapping and analysis solution, HERE Technologies, which provided location data, and MAXAR Technologies, which provided the satellite images before and after the blast.”

K&A is continuing to provide support for the HRC and government authorities to help Lebanon and its people recover from the turmoil which has been left behind, and deliver a long-term plan from which Beirut can rebuild and reinvigorate itself.