A mapping tool intended to provide real time information about wildfires and evacuations is being repurposed to offer information about resources available during the coronavirus pandemic.
The San Francisco start-up Zonehaven was initially designed to help officials target residents in the event of a wildfire.
“The goal has been to be able to provide alerts and evacuations based on zones,” says CEO Charlie Crocker. The app works by creating hyper local zones down to each city block so that residents can simply type in their address and find out emergency information relevant to their community.
Now, people in San Mateo County can find the medical and social services closest to them including a Waze link with a map to the nearest hospital, or a list of parks that are still open. People looking for food will receive information about which grocery stores are open or a list of restaurants that are still open for takeout.
“Cities will be updating this information and providing that throughout the next few weeks, and we’ll be keeping this application up and running for as long as needed,” says Crocker. “And we will continue to be up and running as we move into fire season.”
