Google Maps Mania - Hurricane Katrina links & stories..

NOAA imagery now available - Imagery that is not yet included in Google Maps, but can be downloaded as an overlay in Google Earth, the NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) has posted fresh satellite imagery of Katrina-affected areas at this location. This imagery will assist those that are looking for an updated aerial view of homes or communities to know what the current view is. Hopefully the imagery can be used in an upcoming Google Maps integration. There are many other Katrina resources located that the NOAA website.

Updates to Google Earth keep coming - From Ogle Earth: Google Earth's home page now has 2 major KMZ updates for downloading: One links to a collection of 3228 post-Hurricane Katrina images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) created "through some serious efforts by NASA, Carnegie Mellon University, and Google." The other is a collection of all the overlays and placemarks submitted to Google Earth Community over the past 8 days related to Katrina. Stay tuned to the GoogleEarthHacks.com website for many other downloadable overlays that can be opened up in Google Earth to assist in viewing the Katrina-affected areas.

Creating a Katrina-Relief Google Maps mashup or integration? Google Maps Product Manager Bret Taylor referred to the following discussion thread in his recent announcement on the Google Blog regarding new Katrina satellite imagery which was posted a few days ago. Be sure to monitor this discussion if you are planning on using the new imagery in any Hurricane Katrina Relief sites.

WIRED News: A Disaster Map 'Wiki' Is Born - Here is a WIRED News article that features an interview with the creators of the Google Maps Katrina Info-Map Jonathan Mendez and Greg Stoll. Established literally overnight, this quick-thinking Google Maps mashup has emerged as one of the critical tools in locating information and people in the Katrina-affected areas.

Google Maps hotel mashup to donate revenues - ReserveMy.com, the hotel booking site that recently integrated its search results with Google Maps is going to donate 10% of their revenues this month to the Hurricane Katrina Relief.

Technorati Tag: [katrina], [hurricanekatrina], [googlemaps], [New Orleans]