Google Map Maker for Haiti and Cuba in response to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike

We have launched Google Map Maker in Haiti and Cuba in order to help relief efforts in the wake of recent natural disasters, including Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. These maps and data are urgently needed by U.N. agencies such as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and many other responding organizations as they navigate the complicated logistics of delivering food and supplies to the region.

For those who are familiar with Haiti or Cuba and want to lend a helping hand, we urge you to help map these countries. Our Google Map Maker engineering and operations teams are also contributing to this effort, and hope to make available quality maps of Haiti and Cuba to help in planning and delivering relief to the affected population. When Cyclone Nargis hit the Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar (Burma) earlier this year, we mobilized a similar effort with our teams to put together a Mapplet within a week.

In addition, users can also help map the Caribbean Islands, several of which were affected by the recent disasters. A list of countries where Google Map Maker is launched is available here.

For a quick tutorial on Google Map Maker, watch the video below or refer to our help pages for more information.

Lalitesh Katragadda, Software Engineer and Jessica Pfund, GIS Specialist