Hurricane Gustav - Extremely Dangerous

"Extremely Dangerous" - that' what a majority of news outlets are reporting about Hurricane Gustav. Latest reports on Hurricane Gustav is that it is now a Category 4 storm with wind speeds up to 145 miles. Here's a look at the storm track + YouTube videos (tagged with "Hurricane Gustav") on Google Maps.

more on Hurricane Gustav at Google Maps Mania and Google Earth Blog

Major Calamity in India - A river changes course

The Kosi river, a tributary of the Ganges in the Indian State of Bihar did something earth shattering this monsoon season. It burst through its banks to flow into a channel it had abandoned more than 200 years ago. The flooded channel swept over a region not accustomed to flooding and forced more than a million people from their homes.

These images below explain what exactly happened:

Here's a Google Maps View of The Kosi River during normal times:


Here's another image from NASA Earth Observatory taken on August 8th, 2008 (before the disaster)


Here's a image from Nasa Earth Observatory taken on August 24th, 2008 showing River Kosi changing its course and flowing through the channel which was abandoned 200 years ago. Looks like more water is flowing through this channel.

Google creates Donations Page to help those affected by Cyclone Nargis

A Google Checkout Donations page has been created to help those affected by Cyclone Nargis. The Donations page allows visitors to donate via credit card to either UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) or Direct Relief International, a global non-government organization providing medical assistance to disaster-stricken areas.

The donations page also shows a Google Maps View of affected areas(via)

Cyclone Nargis was a strong tropical cyclone that made landfall in Myanmar on May 2, 2008, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 63,335 fatalities with a further 37,019 people still missing, and estimates on the final total of fatalities ranging up to 100,000. (source: wikipedia)