Millions of people followed Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike online — and now, you can see aerial images of the storms’ aftermath from your computer, too.
Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (the people behind the National Hurricane Center) has been converted into image overlays on Google Earth . One shows home and road damage near Gilchrist, Texas. The image on the left is before and on the right is after:
This shot shows an oil spill from hurricane damage near Crystal Beach, Texas (same before-and-after setup):
And this one gives you a glimpse into the extent of dock damage along the coast of Galveston:
You can grab the full before-and-after imagery from Hurricane Ike here and from Hurricane Gustav here . Both are in KMZ files for viewing in Google Earth.
If you’re interested in supporting families hit by the storms, you might want to check out CharityNavigator.org . It’ll let you search for any charity name to make sure it’s legit before handing over your cash or account information — and with the high amount of storm scamming around the Web, it can never hurt to be extra careful.
Here are some specific legit charities worth considering, if you are so inclined:
- American Red Cross
- Americares
- Direct Relief International
- Food for the Poor
- Mercy Corps
- North Shore Animal League
- Operation USA
- Save the Children
