Google integrates public alerts in Maps

By eGov Innovation Editors | Feb 1, 2012

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Google has integrated Public Alerts, a platform designed to provide relevant emergency alerts, into Google Maps.

"If a major weather event is headed for your area, you might go online to search for the information you need: What’s happening? Where and when will it strike? How severe will it be? What resources are available to help?" Google explained in a blog post.

For a start, feeds from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Weather Service, and the US Geological Survey (USGS) have been integrated into Google Maps and available when people search specific locations with feeds from these organizations.

Alerts could be anything from weather disturbances, flood and winter storm warnings, evacuation notices and other public safety precautions, earthquake or hurricane alerts.

The idea, according to Google, is to provide the public information it needs to make better decisions in times of crisis. "We want to make it easy for people to find critical emergency information during a crisis through the online tools they use every day. By incorporating public alert data from authoritative sources in to Google Maps, we aim to simplify the process of searching for emergency information," it said.

The plan is to expand the service to include alerts from all geographic areas and include international content. However, Google said it is taking a cautious step in adding local emergency agencies to ensure quality of alerts. For agencies that want to participate in the project, Google has outlined steps for properly formatting their data and how to enroll in the service.