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Blog Post Posted February 5, 2010, 8:59 pm by Kody Leonard

Find Mercy Corps in Haiti on Google Maps

Country: Haiti
Topics: Emergencies

Google updated their maps on Haiti shortly after the earthquake struck. You can see the destruction and camps all over the city. Gene Kunze, who arrived very early in the response, has been gathering Global Positioning System (GPS) data for various sites where we have been working, giving us an opportunity to share some important locations through Google Maps.

To get started, go to http://maps.google.com and search for "Haiti." At the top of the list you'll see "Haiti Disaster Response Map." Clicking this will reveal some important data about the earthquake. I highly recommend checking "IDP Staging Areas" to see the large camps around Port-au-Prince. Zoom in to yellow areas to see the all the tents being set up. Also check "Haiti Damage Assessment" and click on the gray dots to see a decription of each damaged building. You'll never get through them all.

Below are some other points in interest, including points taken from Gene's work. (You can also copy the GPS coordinates and paste them into the search field in Google Maps.)

National Palace: 18.543283,-72.338811
Not only is the collapse visible, but notice all the tents around the palace.

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Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport: 18.576337,-72.294969
The long lines of cars make getting in and out of the airport and UN compound a long, slow journey.

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American Embassy: 18.563842,-72.249237
People are waiting in endless lines in attempts to get passage to the United States. I feel sorry for them standing out in the open without cover from the scorching sun.

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A Mercy Corps cash-for-work site: 18.567242,-72.24618
This is just one of several.

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A Mercy Corps water and sanitation (WASH) programme site: 18.5604719819, -72.2938379413
Hospital site partnered with MERLIN.

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Tonight we had an interview with Wired magazine about the Geographic Information System (GIS) work to see how non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are using the technology in Haiti. The UN has been encouraging organisations to provide coordinates of activities to reduce duplication of work and open information to everyone for assessment. The use of GIS in this response is unlike any other implementation we've ever done.