The insurance industry, and those of us attached to it, are tracking Hurricane Irene with special interest and with special capabilities. A new map created by GIS software provider ESRI (Redlands, Calif.) combines extremely detailed street and topographical mapping with storm tracking features and, perhaps most interestingly, with volunteered insight provided by individuals using popular social media platforms, such as Twitter and YouTube. ESRI’s Simon Thompson comments on this novel combination of information sources and applications. Read More
