Google leans on Twitter for help with public safety announcements

Google Public Alerts recently incorporated tweets from locations affected by natural disasters. These notifications will be pushed from places like the National Weather Service and will help keep residents informed during times of duress. The idea behind using tweets is to quickly address public concerns like school closures and community evacuations. Google spreads this type of emergency information through several of its platforms, including Google Maps, Google Now and its Public Alerts website.

For now, this new alert feature is only available to English-speaking regions, however Google says its working on introducing new products to different territories sometime in the future. Although it may be odd seeing Google turning to Twitter for help, it’s good to see rivals put their differences aside for a good cause like public safety.