How A Group Of Coders Are Helping With Harvey Relief Efforts

Sketch City has created interactive maps to connect victims to resources.

By Michael MarksSeptember 4, 2017 3:16 pm,

If there’s a positive takeaway from Hurricane Harvey, it’s that we’ve seen the way that Texans come together to help each other. But while people are eager to help, it can be difficult to connect with those most in need during a calamity the size and scope of Harvey.

Enter a group of coders who call themselves Sketch City. The group has created several maps to connect victims of Hurricane Harvey with those who want to help them.

Tanweer Rajwani is a software developer in San Antonio who helped build the maps. He says the group of volunteers pulled together to get one of the maps, the Texas Rescue Map, up and running as soon as possible.

“The rescue map was created overnight,” he says. “We saw a need for it and I think we started working on it Sunday night and had it live Monday morning.”

So far, Rajwani says that the most popular map has been the Texas Muck Map, which connects people who need help cleaning their homes.

“When your house gets flooded, there might be mud in there, you’ve gotta remove drywall, carpet,” he says. “Mucking is the act of that renovation, removing anything that’s been flooded or damaged,”

Listen to the full interview in the audio player above

Post by Alexandra Hart