Google aggiunge gli uragani ai risultati di ricerca

Questa settimana Google ha introdotto una nuova serie di funzioni per allertare e informare meglio gli utenti a proposito delle tempeste di entità maggiore, quali ad esempio tornado ed uragani.

[ad#alberto-schiabel-1]

Il colosso di Mountain View ha annunciato il nuovo aggiornamento di Google Search in un post pubblicato ieri nel suo blog ufficiale, in occasione dell’entrata nella stagione degli uragani statunitense, e in ricordo delle vittime dell’uragano Katrina di 10 anni fa.

Ecco le dichiarazioni del post:

Improving Public Alerts for hurricane season

August 27, 2015

Ten years ago, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast of the United States, flooding cities, displacing thousands of people, and causing billions of dollars worth of damage. It is the costliest natural disaster, and one of the deadliest hurricanes, in U.S. history.

After rescue efforts began in the immediate aftermath of Katrina, some Googlers wondered how they could connect people with useful information and resources related to the storm. With the help of many third-party organizations, small groups of our employees worked to display satellite imagery of affected areas in Google Earth and helped build searchable databases so people could check on the safety of friends and loved ones. These early efforts later became some of the standard actions taken today by the Google Crisis Response Team following natural disasters, from hurricanes to earthquakes to tsunamis.

As the U.S. enters hurricane season again, Katrina remains a stark reminder of the devastation a storm like that can cause. We want to be as prepared and as helpful as possible for the next one—no matter where it hits, or how big it is. So we’re always working to improve our Crisis Response efforts to help people stay safe and informed during these events.

With that in mind, we’ve launched some improvements to weather forecasts and Public Alerts in Google Search to track storms during this year’s U.S. hurricane season. Now, when you search the web for information about particular storms or tornadoes, you may see:

• A map showing your location in relation to the oncoming storm
• Visualizations of its forecasted track, wind severity and arrival time, courtesy of NOAA
• Concise instructions for preparing and staying safe, customized for the estimated intensity of the storm and its arrival time relative to your location, from FEMA and ready.gov

The safety recommendations you receive will be tailored to reflect the current status of the event and your context. For example, if you search for a specific storm when it’s still several days away, you may see a map of the developing weather event and a recommendation to start preparing an emergency kit. If the storm is only hours away from your location, you might receive a reminder to start charging your phone in case power goes out. And if you search when the storm is nearby, you’ll get the most urgent information, like how to avoid injury from fast-moving water or flying debris.

Not every storm is as devastating as Katrina was, but they all have the potential to cause damage, disrupt lives, and uproot communities. By providing useful, accurate, early-warning information, we want to do our part to help people prepare. More information won’t stop natural disasters from occurring, but it can go a long way to keeping people safe, and in some cases, could even save lives.

Con la nuova funzionalità, gli utenti che cercheranno informazioni a riguardo di uragani o tornado si imbatteranno in mappe che illustreranno loro la locazione di tali tempeste, accompagnate da dettagli e dati del NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), oltre che utili consigli di sopravvivenza.

Nel caso la tempesta fosse ancora lontana ma in avvicinamento, gli utenti riceverebbero risultati su come preparare un kit di emergenza, come proteggere se stessi e come tenere in vita i propri telefoni in caso di mancanza di corrente.

Queste nuove features sono il risultato dei più recenti sforzi di Google di migliorare il suo campo di informazioni meteoreologiche.

Le notizie di quest’estate ci hanno ricordato che l’Italia non è immune da questi eventi. Cosa ne pensate? Ditecelo nei commenti.