Skip to Main Content

Google Adds Power Outage Info to Hurricane Sandy Map

The web giant last night made its Hurricane Sandy crisis response tool even more useful with the addition of power outage information.

October 30, 2012

Millions of residents along the East Coast woke up Tuesday morning without power following superstorm Sandy. The hurricane slammed into the East Coast Monday night, leaving massive devastation and taking 16 lives as it continued its path inland.

As the storm approached, Google launched a special interactive map site containing vital emergency information about Sandy. The Web giant last night made the tool even more useful with the addition of power outage information. The map will now direct you to power status information from Con Edison, Long Island Power Authority, PSE&G, and other utilities along the East Coast.

The map also shows weather radar, public alerts, and Red Cross safety shelter locations. If you're viewing it from your phone, click on the "layers" button in the upper right hand corner to see more information. Google has also set up a designated Sandy crisis response map for those in the New York City, where the mass transportation system and schools are still shut down.

On the desktop version, the map's sidebar features a menu containing options to view traffic condition overlays, neighborhood flooding zone estimates, satellite-resolution cloud imagery, high wind probability graphics, area webcams offering a peek at real-time conditions (and associated YouTube videos), and more. The rich trove of aggregate data is augmented by information from the NOAA National Hurricane Center, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Weather.com, the National Weather Service, and the United States Geological Survey.

Meanwhile, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal dropped their paywalls so readers could remain up to date about Sandy's path. As Sandy flooded the streets of New York City last night it . The storm affected the servers of Gawker Media, The Huffington Post, and Buzzfeed, which turned to Twitter and Gawker in the interim.