Thursday, November 1, 2012

Technology for Hurricane Sandy


Ever since Monday night, Hurricane Sandy has and is still creating problems in the New York and New Jersey area. Flooding, Loss of electricity, and wrecked homes is just few examples of the countless problems. In addition to those problems, the death toll has already passed 60 people. In response to the disaster, Google has released a new feature. The feature allows users to receive up-to-date information about Hurricane Sandy. The new Google feature also has the latest evacuation routes and shelters in addition to public alerts. The feature uses Google maps to create a map of the storm. The map displays locations with no power, areas with traffic, and flooded areas. Google is trying to help victims, relatives and friends, and concerned users stay updated. 

That evening Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey and other areas of the Northeast, Google release its new feature. It was created by the Google Crisis Response, a nonprofit sect that was founded after Hurricane Katrina. The purpose of the Google Crisis Response is to utilize Google products to help solve problem and to keep people updated on the latest news in times of crisis. The new feature for Hurricane Sandy was initially going to be released at a later date, however since the hurricane came, Google decided to quickly finish the helpful feature and release it to the public. The feature uses information gathered from the Red Cross, Weather.gov, Storyful and the United States Naval Research Laboratory, the National Hurricane Center, and other sources.

                After Hurricane Sandy crisis is gone, Google plans to introduce the full service of the feature and add notifications from other services like Nixle, where local police publish messages. Google will continue the ongoing mission of keeping the public updated on the latest news. Google will revise and create more helpful features for times of crisis.

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