Interactive Map of Area Hit By Tornado in Iowa

There's a very well done interactive map available through the DesMoines Register that follows on the May 25, 2008 tornado that tore through Parkensburg, IA. The map above shows tax parcels and level of damage by color code, locations of photographs and videos. There are some eery videos shot on bank surveillance cameras that show the tornado tearing the roof off of a house and blasting windows open on the bank. There is also cell phone video footage.

And when you click on a tax parcel for many of the areas, you can get a before photo and an after shot (circled in red). The before picture often looks like a photograph suitable for a real estate agent's sales catalogue. This site is a prime example of the power of maps and publicly-produced, spatially-related images and other content. If only a mashup like this was available for New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. If it was, I didn't hear about it.

Thanks, Sean Connin of NITLE.