The heavy snow, high winds and coastal flooding caused on the East Coast this week by Winter Storm Juno have created the need for disaster response and recovery efforts. Disasters.data.gov, recently launched by the White House Administration in response to Hurricane Sandy, is a portal that provides information needed in the wake of a disaster. This public resource was designed to foster collaboration and continually improve disaster-related open data and free tools, as well as develop new ways to empower first responders, survivors, and government officials with information.

Some of the resources you will find on disasters.data.gov include:

• Types of Disasters - Find open data sets, apps and tools for earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, severe winter weather, tornadoes, and wildfires.
• Call to Action: Open Data - To help empower the community with information that can improve preparedness, the Administration is working with stakeholders to make publicly available a series of government and private sector disaster-related data sets.
• Innovator Challenge - The first in a series of Innovator Challenges to highlight pressing needs from the disaster preparedness community is, "How might we leverage real-time sensors, open data, social media, and other tools to help reduce the number of fatalities from flooding?" One-page solutions may be submitted to disaster preparedness stakeholders. Innovations will be highlighted in the coming months.
• Apps & Tools - An initial set of apps and tools that can be deployed at minimal cost by first responders, emergency managers, volunteer organizations, survivors, and other stakeholders.
• Blog - Learn about the White House Innovation for Disaster Response and Recovery Initiative, the Demo Day and how the disasters.data.gov site was created.

Disasters.data.gov seeks to leverage the creativity and social entrepreneurship of innovators for the purpose of strengthening national preparedness. You may e-mail  disastertech@ostp.gov with your feedback and get involved to help build a more resilient community.