Google Launches Hurricane Isaac Site

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Google Launches Hurricane Isaac Site

Posted by samzenpus on Monday August 27, 2012 @09:26AM from the one-stop-hurricane-news dept.

redletterdave writes "Google Crisis Response, one of Google's thousands of active projects that merges various Google tools like Maps, Docs, Forms and Earth, posted a new webpage on Monday dedicated to Tropical Storm Isaac — soon to be Hurricane Isaac — in an effort to disseminate helpful information about the hurricane's path, its forecasted track, and how local residents can stay safe during this emergency situation. Google's Crisis Map for Hurricane Isaac allows the user to set up and see public alerts from weather.gov, flood gauge forecasts, surge zones, evacuation zones and routes, barrier resources and relevant YouTube videos for each impacted area."

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Actual Google site by GSPride · 2012-08-27 09:29 · Score: 5, Informative

The actual Google Crisis site is:
http://google.org/crisismap/2012-tropical-system-isaac

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Apple has never claimed not to be evil, they're just very stylish about it.
1. Re:Actual Google site by jhoegl · 2012-08-27 09:48 · Score: 0
  
  Crisis site says if we all flush our toilets at the same time during a hurricane that Florida will be swallowed up by the ocean.
  I say we all do it at 4:20pmET tomorrow to test this theory.
  I can see it now, "Reports of Republicans yelling, 'I should have believed in Global Warming!'."
2. Re:Actual Google site by guttentag · 2012-08-27 11:11 · Score: 1
  
  Romney should deliver his victory speech aboard an aircraft carrier floating past New Orleans City Hall. In doing so, he could reinvigorate the portion of the Republican base that believes things were better off under Bush.
3. Re:Actual Google site by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 11:37 · Score: 1
  
  I found the site rather content-free except for YouTube entries linking to YouTube. I would have hoped any information would have been at a glance on that page.
4. Re:Actual Google site by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2012-08-27 11:43 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you! This is actually hard to find using Google. Type in "hurricane Isaac" and started scrolling down.
  Nope...nope...nope..."Robert Reich: George W. Bush As Hurricane Isaac", looked for the -1 troll button but was on the wrong site.
  
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5. Re:Actual Google site by inKubus · 2012-08-27 12:04 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I'm a big fan of wunderground's Wundermap.
  
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  Cool! Amazing Toys.
6. Re:Actual Google site by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 15:18 · Score: 0
  
  Fuck off, nazi.
7. Re:Actual Google site by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 15:18 · Score: 0
  
  New Orleans is going to be fine. After Katrina $14.5 billion was spent upgrading the flood protection including hundreds of miles of levees, flood walls, the largest pumping station in the world (which is self powered), and the "Great Wall" of New Orleans. New Orleans is probably the best protected city on the planet from flooding right now. And yes, all of the work is complete and the systems are operational. While it is true that it is untested, you would need a hell of a lot more than a Category 1 hurricane to plausibly cause any stress to this system. It is really an engineering marvel.
8. Re:Actual Google site by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 21:44 · Score: 0
  
  Never mind the lives lost and the people's suffering!
  The end justifies the costs right?
9. Re:Actual Google site by John+Napkintosh · 2012-08-28 01:17 · Score: 1
  
  Came here to post this. The wundermap has been out for quite some time, and it's pretty handy. These two sites seem very similar; the sidebars are practically the same.
  
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  Long signatures suck.
Ahaha! There it is. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 09:33 · Score: 2

I do find it amusing, though, how this query, https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hurricane%20isaac, doesn't return Google's crisis site.
Search giants, indeed ;)
1. Re:Ahaha! There it is. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 10:05 · Score: 1
  
  They're just trying not to get sued by some random Microsoft backed consumer watch dog for favoring their crisis site over others. Also, the Microsoft crisis site requires Silverlight so many are SOL either way. :)
Like rock and roll by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2012-08-27 09:34 · Score: 2, Funny

I never expected Google to be a company that cheaply jumps on the latest fad that blows by.

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1. Re:Like rock and roll by ackthpt · 2012-08-27 09:35 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  I never expected Google to be a company that cheaply jumps on the latest fad that blows by.
  We need them to work on the technology of controling the weather ... push it to the east a hundred miles would be a good start.
  
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  A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
2. Re:Like rock and roll by SternisheFan · 2012-08-27 09:42 · Score: 2
  
  I never expected Google to be a company that cheaply jumps on the latest fad that blows by.
  We need them to work on the technology of controling the weather ... push it to the east a hundred miles would be a good start.
  A "self-driving" google hurricaine?
3. Re:Like rock and roll by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 09:44 · Score: 0
  
  the latest fad that blows by
  You mean the Republicans?
4. Re:Like rock and roll by MrAnnoyanceToYou · 2012-08-27 09:51 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Actually, it's kinda a logical extension of their original (somewhat overblown) mission of collecting as much data as possible, organizing it, and disseminating it as useful information to people. Lots of people have tried it (there was a disaster a few years ago where Wikipedia was used as an information store, as I remember) and it seems like a decent thing to do.
  On top of that, Google is an advertising-based Internet startup that seems to have incongruously lasted 10 years longer than its expected lifespan. What part of, "Jump on every fad," doesn't fit into that?
  
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5. Re:Like rock and roll by ackthpt · 2012-08-27 10:04 · Score: 1
  
  I never expected Google to be a company that cheaply jumps on the latest fad that blows by.
  We need them to work on the technology of controling the weather ... push it to the east a hundred miles would be a good start.
  A "self-driving" google hurricaine?
  Ya know... I think that sounds even more fun than a flying car. Where can I get one? (c=
  
  --
  
  A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
6. Re:Like rock and roll by gnapster · 2012-08-27 10:08 · Score: 2
  
  I live a hundred miles to the east, you insensitive clod!
7. Re:Like rock and roll by circletimessquare · 2012-08-27 12:22 · Score: 1
  
  no, you misunderstand. google actually launched hurricane isaac. that's how advanced their r&d into alternative energy is
  
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  intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
8. Re:Like rock and roll by neonv · 2012-08-27 12:25 · Score: 1
  
  It is completely inappropriate to WANT a hurricane to devastate a state just to delay a few people you don't like. Grow up.
Intensity level by SternisheFan · 2012-08-27 09:40 · Score: 3, Informative

Isaac should make landfall (at most) as a Category 2 hurricaine, according to info as of Monday 5 pm Eastern. 7 years ago Irene was a Category 5 before making landfall, and was downgraded to a Category 3 by the time it made land.
1. Re:Intensity level by Antipater · 2012-08-27 09:57 · Score: 1
  
  There was a hurricane named Irene seven years ago, yes. It was never a cat 5, and never made landfall. So...huh? Are you possibly talking about Ike, 4 years ago, which peaked at cat 4 but made landfall as cat 2?
  
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  Everything is better with chainsaws.
2. Re:Intensity level by SternisheFan · 2012-08-27 10:05 · Score: 2
  
  Right you are sir. Ike landed near Galveston as a Cat 2, Irene hit North Carolina as a Cat 1.
3. Re:Intensity level by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 10:16 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Intensity isn't everything. Location matters too. Isaac is weaker, sure, but it's expected to strengthen in the Gulf a little and the predicted path near landfall is surprisingly similar to that of Katrina, kind of on the east side of New Orleans or over the top. That's the worst situation for landfall in that area, because the counter-clockwise flow of the hurricane will tend to push the water up into Lake Pontchartrain on the north side of the city and up the canal system that connects the city to the ocean on the SE side. A Category 2 is not nearly as bad as the stronger hurricanes, but it's still bad depending upon timing with respect to tides and how long the rainfall lingers. The predictions for storm surge don't look too serious so far (look at the maps of "storm surge probabilities" and "storm surge exceedance" at the National Hurricane Center), but they're still looking at a 50% chance of exceeding a metre or so (looks like the max is 3-5 feet at the 50% confidence level). This *should* be inside the levee limits. The system *should* be able to handle that, but complicated systems have a habit of failing in inconvenient ways. Hopefully people are taking the evacuations seriously in the areas where it's been recommended.
4. Re:Intensity level by RabidReindeer · 2012-08-27 12:37 · Score: 1
  
  Isaac should make landfall (at most) as a Category 2 hurricaine, according to info as of Monday 5 pm Eastern. 7 years ago Irene was a Category 5 before making landfall, and was downgraded to a Category 3 by the time it made land.
  I don't know about NOLA, but Northern Florida has been pretty squishy underfoot for weeks between the actual tropical storms and the systems that probably would have become tropical storms if tropical storms could form over land. And, after all, it wasn't the wind that trashed New Orleans in Katrina, it was the water. If the ground there is as saturated as the ground in the Florida Panhandle, the extra rainfall could make a real mess of things.
  On the plus side, they hopefully have fixed the worst of the levee-related problems by now.
5. Re:Intensity level by mjr167 · 2012-08-27 23:29 · Score: 1
  
  By similiar to Katrina you mean it's a tropical storm in the gulf of Mexico?
6. Re:Intensity level by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-28 02:00 · Score: 0
  
  No, it's more similar than that in terms of position. It takes more than a hurricane somewhere in the Gulf to set up the worst case situation. Where the storm track goes -- to the east of the Missisissippi Delta or to the west -- makes a big difference in terms of the effect on storm surge for New Orleans. If it runs through Alabama or Florida, not much of an effect on New Orleans because it will be on the lee side. If it goes to the west, winds will be weak. But get the "right front" quadrant of the hurricane over the eastern side of the delta, and it funnels the water into the lakes on the north side of New Orleans, and kind of dams the normal flow of the floodwaters that flow down the Mississippi and its tributaries. This storm is lined up to maximize storm surge effects, rather like Katrina did. Position-wise, this is just about the worst case. Thankfully, this storm is much weaker than Katrina, so the storm surge won't be nearly as bad. To put it in comparison, Katrina's storm surge was 25-28 feet above normal, whereas they're predicting at most 11-13 feet for Isaac. Isaac is moving slower, though, so that's going to mean rainfall could be roughly on par.
  If you look at the storm surge predictions on the page I cited in the previous comment, you can see the asymmetric storm surge effect pretty clearly on the eastern side of the delta, and not much on the west side, even though the predicted track of the hurricane runs right up the middle of the delta.
  Turning things around, you could actually have a stronger hurricane make landfall somewhere in the Gulf, but have a much weaker storm surge effect, simply because it won't be lined up to create that "funnel" effect I described.
Thanks for removing the link to Google CR site by hsmith · 2012-08-27 09:48 · Score: 5, Insightful

but retaining the link to the link to IBTimes.

Worthless.

http://www.google.org/crisisresponse/
1. Re:Thanks for removing the link to Google CR site by sootman · 2012-08-27 13:20 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Slashdot has just about hit the point of "A common household item can kill you! We'll tell you which one, at 11."
  "Google has created a potentially lifesaving website. Here's some guy's blog post about it."
  
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  Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
2. Re:Thanks for removing the link to Google CR site by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2012-08-28 09:10 · Score: 1
  
  Damn straight it is lifesaving. Did you look at the map's color legend?
  Less intense is light green at 12 dBZ, up through deep, dark red at a whopping 64+ Dragon Ball Zs.
  I don't know where Super Saiyan 5 is, but it looks off the low green end. This thing will FUCK YOU UP. I seen it on TV!
  
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Relevant Youtube videos? by Antipater · 2012-08-27 09:49 · Score: 2

I can see it now.
"No, hold on, man. We can evacuate in a minute. There's this even better hurricane video we should watch next!"

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Everything is better with chainsaws.
1. Re:Relevant Youtube videos? by lasvegasseo · 2012-08-28 10:02 · Score: 0
  
  lulz
Better data at the NHC website by Bill_the_Engineer · 2012-08-27 10:30 · Score: 2

Sure there is some youtube links on Google's mashup site.
More timely information can be found on the National Hurricane Center's interactive website

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Bloated as hell page by ZorinLynx · 2012-08-27 10:49 · Score: 2

Wow, this page is so incredibly slow and clunky. Google, you can do SO MUCH better. Come on.
Meanwhile, http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ provides all the information you could want about the storm, and it loads instantly.
Sometimes all you need is the content.
1. Re:Bloated as hell page by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 11:47 · Score: 0
  
  Wow, this page is so incredibly slow and clunky. Google, you can do SO MUCH better. Come on.
  Pretty zippy for me, even after a good slashlashing... I'm impressed!
  Who's your provider? Are your DNS settings optimum? What browser are you using? Maybe it's time to get more ram or a faster processor... or ditch Windows. Whatever the problem is, it isn't Google's fault. The site is fine.
2. Re:Bloated as hell page by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 13:13 · Score: 1
  
  > Wow, this page is so incredibly slow and clunky
  Stop using Netscape 6.0. It's 2012, for fuck sake. And if it matters, I loaded it almost instantly three times.
  (BTW, who is modding this? Anything against Google is by default insightful?)
Aircraft by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 12:02 · Score: 0

Now, if Google would only actually live up to their deal with NASA, and fly the Google planes into the hurricane...
They are supposed to be research aircraft.
http://jalopnik.com/5936950/the-government-is-about-to-fly-a-gulfstream-jet-into-a-tropical-storm
AC
1. Re:Aircraft by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 16:32 · Score: 0
  
  NOAA and the Air Force have used jets in the past for hurricane probing, but they are less effective than turboprops. When you fly through a hurricane you want an airplane that can fly slowly so that you can withstand the turbulence and then get precision drops and lots of time for measurements. Jet engines don't allow this so all of the jet powered hurricane hunters are primarily used for peripheral probing and track verification. I don't think jet engines have ever penetrated an eyewall, though I could be wrong. I think it is plausible that at the high speeds that jet aircraft fly that the turbulence could rip them to shreds in the interior of a powerful hurricane.
What can we really infer? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 13:11 · Score: 1

Either Obama has directed a secret army of weather control satellites to interrupt the republican convention or God *really* hates Republicans. Which theory will Fox News promote?
Re:Better weather map by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-27 21:33 · Score: 0

Ha Ha, my AC posts are scored higher than yours by default. Man did you screw up to be posting at -1. You musta been dissing google while pissing on a picture of Linus. Either that or you were trying to defend SlashBi while filing software patents.