Google activates crisis tools for Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda

Google announced on Monday that it has launched a couple of crisis tools for Philippines to aid in its plight. The country is currently battling with some serious destruction wreaked by the Typhoon Yolanda. In response to that, Google has activated the Person Finder and Relief map for the country.

The typhoon, also known as Haiyan, has already left a suspected 10,000 people dead in just one city and has caused more than 600,000 to be displaced. The typhoon is unofficially the strongest recorded tropical cyclone to have made landfall. It hit Philippines on November 7 and over the weekend weakened to a tropical storm, going on to hit northern Vietnam.

In the wake of the destruction left behind by Yolanda, Google has launched its Person Finder tool to help people post information about their loved ones. Users can choose between options like “I’m looking for someone” or “I have information about someone” on the Person Finder page. They can then enter all the information they possess so that others accessing this tool can help out.

The Person Finder is currently tracking 48,500 records

The Person Finder tool is also available on mobile phones, with Google partnering with service providers in the Philippines to let users check status of their loved ones via SMS. The other tool activated for the country is the Typhoon Yolanda Relief Map. It provides updates on shelters set up to escape the typhoon amongst other information that could be helpful at that time. Google is also allowing users across the world to embed these tools onto their websites by providing codes.

Last month, Google activated the Person Finder tool in India for the victims of the cyclone Phailin that hit Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Previously, the tool has been activated to track down victims of the Uttarakhand floods in the country as well. The tool, first activated post the Haiti Earthquake in 2010, has also made a significant contribution in helping loved ones find each other post Japan’s deadly earthquake and even the Boston Marathon blasts earlier this year.

(Cover image credit: Reuters)