I just read "Mapping the Incident - The Baldwin County ARES Location Finder", an article by Hal Reid, K6DPL, in QST Magazine October 2008. The article is about integrating a locally-hosted mapping/GIS application with local emergency services. That gave me this idea. Google should make their immense database of local information available to emergency services. Of course anyone can use it now, but pretty much only when you can connect to the Google servers. For a disasster application an agency would have to have a local copy of the data. Google would need to come up with a cache or mirror application that would store their GIS data on a local server. They could build this so that all it does it maintain a copy of the latest information for it's designated area. In a large emergency when internet access is questionable (hurricanes, anyone?) the local application would be able to serve the data. The server could live in the communications center, mobile command post, or maybe be copied onto multiple notebook computers. And while they are at it, the Google Street View data collection - the Google van that drives around taking pictures of everything - would make an excellent resource for the Red Cross to survey damage. I'd guess that the pictures I've seen of the van are for publicity, and the whole thing could be reduced to a carry-on suitcase that you could strap on the roof of a car. Anyway, maybe someone will pick up this idea and run with it. Or maybe someone already has?