Google Maps improves SOS alerts for natural disasters

Google Maps' SOS alerts feature has been improved to provide more information during natural disasters.

As explained on the official blog, the SOS alerts will now show information related to hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods. Google Maps will show a crisis notification card in days leading up to the disaster, directing you to a forecast or visualisation, to help you react better to calamities.

Google Maps also gets a new navigation warning system so that people can more reliably know where a disaster is and anticipate where it is headed.

Hurricane forecast cones and earthquake shakemaps will start rolling out in the coming weeks on Android, iOS, desktop, and mobile web. Flood forecasts visualizations will soon roll out starting in Patna, India, and then expand to the Ganges and Brahmaputra regions on Android, desktop, and mobile web.