We will be pushing post-Katrina imagery of the New Orleans area to the
Google Maps servers imminently.   To provide users with both "before"
and "after" images, we are launching the imagery as a separate Map
Type that only appears when your map viewport is over New Orleans.
Basically, when you pan the map over New Orleans, a red "Katrina"
button will appear after the "Hybrid" button.

You can test the new JavaScript file, which will become the default
shortly, by pointing your scripts to

http://www.google.com/mapfiles/maps.19k.js

If you are using the default set of map types, your maps will
automatically start showing this button.  If you are manually setting
map types, you can access the new map type with G_KATRINA_MAP.

We are happy to see the API used for so many great public service
hurricane relief sites, and we hope this imagery will be useful for
all of you.

Sorry for the last minute notice, but the urgency of the situation
demanded it.  Please let us know if you see any problems.

Thanks,
Bret Taylor
Product Manager, Google Maps

This does not seem to work for me, correct me if I'm wrong, but all I
need to do to make this work on an HTML page is to add <script
src="http://www.google.com/mapfiles/maps.19k.js"
type="text/javascript"></script> and then this will work? If so, it may
be broken.

Try adding the line

    <script src="http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/maps.19.js"
type="text/javascript"></script>

just after your normal Maps API script line.  The new script will
overwrite the symbols from the old script.  I have not confirmed this.
We have tested it with our API test cases internally, so I am fairly
confident there will not be issues for sites that use the documented
parts of the API.

Bret

On 9/2/05, Teddy Wexler <evilrabidmon...@gmail.com> wrote:

This does not seem to work for me, http://67.188.89.121/katrina.html
has that bit of html, and when centered on New Orleans, no button
appears. Also, when I use my own input button at the bottom of the map
to set the map type, it causes an error.

Hmm, you're right.  This seems to be an artifact of the nature of the
change, which makes it difficult to test as an independent JS file.  I
hadn't tried this internally -- sorry about the confusion.

It should be live shortly, and we have tested it on our API test cases
fairly extensively here, so I am fairly confident there will not be
major issues for sites using the documented API once it goes live.

This probably won't fix your problem, but setMapType should take in
the G_KATRINA_MODE constant (no quotes, it not a string).

Bret

On 9/2/05, Teddy Wexler <evilrabidmon...@gmail.com> wrote:

Alright, thanks a lot.

It should be live everywhere.  Please let us know if you have any problems.

Thanks,
Bret

FYI, the photos were taken on Wednesday, August 31st at 10 am.  If you
use the imagery in your site, it is worthwhile to mention this so
those interested in investigating their homes and streets will know
that the imagery is a couple days old.

Bret

Bret, is there a chance you could allow the Katrina maptype to zoom in
one more level? I think another step in would help people identify
buildings a little better, even if it was interpolated from the current
best resolution.

We agree, and we are working on it... I will post an update on our
progress over the weekend.

Bret,

Also, maybe you could increase the coverage of the Katrina imagery to
include the North Shore and other areas affected in the immediate
vicinity.

Thanks a lot for the quick work on this.

-John

http://maps.huge.info

The G_KATRINA_MODE variable still does not work.

I am going for a record in the number of mistakes I can have in a
single message :)  Sorry, late night and a long day...

The variable is G_KATRINA_TYPE (not _MODE), like the other map types.

We will update documentation this weekend.

Bret

Bret,
I was just switching between Satellite and Katrina modes,
and there appears that there is as serious misallignment
between the two images.

Just look at how Lafayette Park moves between the images.

Daryle

Are you sure it's G_KATRINA_TYPE? it doesnt seem to work.

Ksc reported in Google-Maps-API-Japan group that it works as:

setMapType( _KATRINA_TYPE );

** just remove "G"

Its lat/lon is around -90.05/29.95.

http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps-API-Japan/browse_thread/th...

Thanks a lot for this update - this makes http://www.scipionus.com more
useful!

Uz made this mashup...
http://web.sfc.keio.ac.jp/~usuyu/map/gmaps/maps/050904_katrina_e.htm

Thanks.  If we're not using the built-in map controls, how can we
detect if Katrina data is visible given the current zoom and map
boundaries?

Do you have example code for handling this generically, so no new code
needs to be added when the next special interest addition comes along?

I can see how I could hook it in, but I'd rather do it in such a way so
that it doesn't break if you change your code.  Calling d,f,g,h doesn't
fill me with confidence in this respect.

Thanks.

Peter

The NOAA hi-res images are now on-line.  I don't know if they are
geo-referenced but they would be great to use with google maps and
cover a huge area.

http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/KATRINA0000.HTM

Chris C

You guys are doing a great job, but why not use the power of google and
google maps to allow people to add their personal location and info to
a searchable site to help them find one another and reunite. In
watching all the news this weekend it struck me that you should help
FEMA/Red Cross and all the other state and independent groups pull all
the data into one searchable location. As well as give a place that
Jane Smith could log into in an internet café, hotel, or family that
has put her up and add her new where-a-bouts.

Google Search mash up with Google Map overlay, and maybe even provide a
blogspot page for these survivors to add info for those looking for
them and communicate.

I think you guys could knock it out of the park with this.

Dylan Boyd
VP Sales and Strategy
Eroi.com
Portland, Oregon

hurricanehousing.org is doing this already. Because of security
concerns, they (rightly) don't release the address of the person
offering housing. I tend to agree with them about the security of
people's locations, which is why I didn't continue work on my site to do
exactly what you're suggesting.

We've been naive about this very valid concern of location privacy - it
needs to be fixed before we redeploy our housing map on the U of M
site.  Thread here:
http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps-API/browse_thread/thread/9...

Could you fix this by providing limited contact info (first name,
phone) and introducing a small intentional random offset to the
location?