Last Tuesday (07), the National Civil Defense, through the Google, provided a new channel of information for notify the population about natural disasters, through Google Maps and browser on the Google search site.
The tool is yet another instrument used by the National Center for Risk and Disaster Management (Cenad), which aims to protect residents of places with possible occurrences.
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In addition to Telegram, pay-TV and SMS messages, state and municipal civil defenses, based on registration at the Interface for Disclosure of Public Alerts (Idap), will also use Google when performing a search on natural disasters, or when entering keywords. Thus, the Internet user will receive an alert about affected areas, equivalent to what happens when navigating on Google Maps.
“The mission of these new means of communication is to make accessible all information that involves lives, aiming at prevent greater fatalities", reinforced Google's business development director in Latin America, Alessandro German.
Colonel Alexandre Lucas, current Secretary of Protection and Civil Defense of the MDR, related these information mechanisms to a personal event, “Recently, while following the heavy rains that hit the state of Pernambuco, I received an alert about floods in the region where I he was. It's impressive how a simple warning, direct and objective, can change my attitude, my choice for safer itineraries and, above all, make me adopt self-protection measures. The same goes for the rest of the population. The potential of this partnership to save lives is enormous. And that is our mission” he declared.
According to the manager of partnerships for the Google search engine in Latin America, Luisa Phebo, will be included seven new disaster fact sheets on Google, namely: floods, landslides, forest fires, windstorms, heavy rains, dam breakage and hailstorms.
The new partnership was celebrated by CENAD Director Armin Braun: “Before a disaster occurs, our attention is focused on prevention, mitigation and preparation actions. In this last phase, issuing alerts is one of the main actions of the National Civil Defense. With Google, we will improve our ability to anticipate disaster and, consequently, increase the chances of the population to save themselves and of local bodies to make decisions faster and more assertive”.
The National Center for Risk and Disaster Management (Cenad) was restructured in August 2012. Since then, the center has operated continuously, with a technical team made up of systems analysts, chemists, social workers, statisticians and meteorologists. CENAD also has crisis management rooms, responsible for monitoring and operating natural disaster actions.