Google Crisis Response

Public Alerts

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The web is looking out for you

Being prepared is just as important as knowing what to do in a crisis. Public Alerts provide a warning before disasters cause damage, so searching for “Hurricane info” in Miami when there is an alert for the East coast would trigger a Public Alert & give you time to prepare.

Getting information during crises like Earthquakes

During large–scale disasters, searching locally for a relevant term like “earthquake”, or just searching for the affected area, will bring up a Public Alert, which will provide you information like the location of nearby shelters, or the extent of the disaster.

Warn friends and loved ones during Forest Fires

Public Alerts are integrated with Google Mobile Services on Android like Maps & Google Now. For a forest fire warning in British Columbia Google Maps for Mobile will show a notification & a link to more information. On Android phones with Google Now there will be a warning notification.

Getting prepared for natural disasters like Tornadoes

Public Alerts provide information about disasters in other locations, and help you warn friends and loved ones. If your family were heading out for a mountain biking trip in Nebraska, and you searched at home for “Nebraska map”, any live Public Alerts for that area would show in Google Maps.

Find more information on incoming disasters like tsunamis

Google Public Alerts are notifications that warn you about natural disasters. If there’s a tsunami warning in San Diego, a search for “Weather San Diego” will give you an Alert. You can click for more information, see a map of the affected area… then maybe go hiking in wine country instead.

Find results in Google Search

Public Alerts are integrated into Google Search. If you search for a place where there is an alert active, or from within an affected area, you’ll see a warning like the one above, and can click through to find out more information.

Get local updates on Google Maps

You’ll also see Public Alerts in Google Maps. If you’re searching Maps on desktop or mobile you’ll get alerts for that area, and if you’re using the Google Maps for Mobile app you’ll see a warning notification if there is an alert nearby.

Notifications on Google Now

Google Now on Android is also integrated with Public Alerts, so that if there’s an alert active for your local area you’ll receive a notification letting you know what’s going on, and showing you the affected area.

See your local disaster information

Enter your state or province to see disaster alerts from your area.

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See disaster trends

Past public alerts

(October 2011 - June 2012)
Share this information with friends and family
Few
Number of alerts
Many

Google stays alert

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