Google's Crisis Map combines information from the National Hurricane Center, American Red Cross and other trusted sources. It offers details about the storm's current and forecasted locations, emergency shelter locations, live webcam feeds, public safety alerts, traffic conditions and a wealth of other vital information.
The use of public radio during the superstorm allowed NY residents to be informed of all happening during the chaos.
Micah Sifry, who lives in New York.
On the website TechPresident, he wrote about how New York public radio station WNYC initiated a crowdsourcing project to keep listeners informed in the hours, days and now weeks since the storm hit the city.
WNYC was also quick to reach out to the public and encourage people to submit stories of what was happening in their surrounding communities -- in real time.
In Boston, CrisisCommons organized the Sandy CrisisCamp — a series of hackathons at MIT and around the world that brought together volunteers who could contribute to Sandy relief with communication technologies.
the Sandy Coworking crowdmap. A #NYResponds initiative, the map lists spaces where people can work, recharge and reconnect.
ScribbleLive -- which curates and aggregates from social networks -- to keep citizens informed of what was happening.
As the recovery process continues, it’s worth noting that technology is transforming the way we react and respond towards natural disaster. Take an example of Instagram. The tool’s CEO was quoted as saying there were “...10 pictures per second being posted with the hashtag #sandy...” It’s no wonder the 80 million user mobile app was a go-to tool during Sandy. For some, this may have been the first and only way they learnt about the disaster.
internet is useful for information dissemination and news gathering, social media for connecting and co-ordinating groups and individuals, mobile phones for taking photographs of what is happening and making it available to a wide global audience and satellite television for instant global reporting of events.
all of these digital tools allow them to bring together remote and often disparate groups and give them channels to bypass the conventional media, which is usually state controlled and unwilling to broadcast any news of civil unrest and opposition to the government.
Rapid internet interaction through Twitter and Facebook gave information to the protesters about how to counteract the security forces as they tried to disperse the protesters, maps showing locations for protest meetings and practical advice about such things as what to do when teargas is used against groups of protesters.
Geotechnology allows you to determine the physical location of your device. You can see the location on an
internet map within your Customer Center account. It's a great way to determine if your device is mislaid, lost,
or on the move without your permission.