FEMA has launched an app that includes an interactive emergency kit checklist to help people respond to emergency events such as tornadoes, and that includes offline resources as well.
Following a disaster, individuals can use the app to upload to FEMA photos taken with a GPS-enabled smartphone to post them to a public map, with the idea being that these crowd-sourced multiple vantage points will help stakeholders and emergency managers coordinate action.
FEMA says the app is using an in-house mapping interface – GeoPlatform – and that the map content could be shared on other maps and sites using their API.
FEMAs mobile website also offers a "social hub" section where it features social feeds such as from its Twitter account, which it uses to post updates on developing situations.