Google updates maps to display natural disasters

Google is improving its SOS alerts by adding visual information about natural disasters and a navigation system on Google Maps. Google says the upgrade will extend the capabilities of the SOS alerts to provide crisis information via relevant news stories and Twitter updates from local authorities to include detailed visualisations about hurricanes, earthquakes and floods. In the days leading up to a hurricane, users will receive a crisis notification card on Google Maps that appears near impacted areas.
July 2, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

1691 Google is improving its SOS alerts by adding visual information about natural disasters and a navigation system on Google Maps.

Google says the upgrade will extend the capabilities of the SOS alerts to provide crisis information via relevant news stories and 2171 Twitter updates from local authorities to include detailed visualisations about hurricanes, earthquakes and floods.

In the days leading up to a hurricane, users will receive a crisis notification card on Google Maps that appears near impacted areas. A forecast cone shows the prediction of the storm’s trajectory along with information about what time it is likely to hit certain areas, the company adds.

The crisis card is also expected to display a visualisation of an earthquake’s magnitude along with colour coding to indicate the intensity of shaking in surrounding areas.

According to Google, users in India will be able to see forecasts of where flooding is likely to occur in addition to the expected severity in different areas.

This summer Google intends to offer another alert which informs people of routes which may be affected by crisis activity.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Need for performance standards for road user charging systems
    February 2, 2012
    GNSS-based road use metering systems need performance metrics, as well as ways to test and reliably compare them. Bern Grush and Joaquín Cosmen write about the function of the GNSS Metering Association for Road-use charging (GMAR), recently set up to address this issue
    Read More
  • US eyes European model for Illinois toll road upgrade
    May 30, 2014
    David Crawford welcomes the adoption of European-style ITS technology by the US. The Jane Addams Memorial Tollway in Illinois, US is well on the way towards becoming a ‘smart traffic corridor’, taking full advantage of active traffic management (ATM or ‘managed lanes’) technology that originated in Europe. It is one of the first American toll roads to do so; preliminary work began in 2014 and will continue through to 2016. Jane Addams is one of four toll roads operated by the publicly-owned Illinois State T
    Read More
  • How on-board video systems can increase vehicle & road safety
    January 7, 2022
    Hikvision examines technology which can avert danger in cars, school buses, taxis and trucks
    Read More
  • Idaho finds the right formula for winter maintenance
    August 5, 2013
    Idaho’s use of key performance indicators to determine the effectiveness of its winter maintenance programme put it on the Best of ITS America shortlist. Idaho Transportation Department’s budget for winter maintenance is more than $25m – almost half of which is spent on snowplough operations. The State’s geography ranges from desert to mountains and Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) has a 500+ strong winter maintenance fleet to undertake snowploughing and spreading salt, salt brine, magnesium chloride a
    Read More

Highlighted Content