The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Google rebuilds New Orleans

  • alert
  • print

Hurricane? What hurricane?

Watch Now : Virtual Machine Movement with Hyper-V

Google has casued a bit of a kerfuffle down in New Orleans by apparently rebuilding the city overnight and removing post-Katrina satellite images from both Google Maps and Google Earth, according to an Associated Press report.

Some locals are none too happy about the miraculous transformation, as an "incredulous" Ruston Henry, president of the economic development association in the city's Lower 9th Ward, explained: "Come on. Just put in big bold this: 'Google, don't pull the wool over the world's eyes. Let the truth shine'."

Henry said of the Lower 9th Ward, now visible in all its undamaged glory: "Everything is missing. The people are missing. Nobody is there."

By coincidence, The Register grabbed some images of part of the Lower 9th back in 2005 when Google Maps offered a Katrina image option. A wide view of the city either showed it before...

New Orleans before Katrina

...or after:

New Orleans after Katrina

And here's the effects of Katrina on Galvez Street Wharf (to the left) with the Lower 9th Ward to the right:

Galvez Street Wharf before Katrina

Galvez Street Wharf after Katrina

Watch Now : Virtual Machine Movement with Hyper-V