Google turned master builder on Thursday and suddenly and completely reconstructed New Orleans, erasing all signs of damage from Hurricane Katrina. It was a Robert Moses-like moment that left Crescent City residents uneasy, offended and, for the most part, unaware of their salvation. That's because Google's munificence wasn't real. It was limited to Google Maps and Google Earth, where the company last week reverted to pre-Katrina satellite images showing no signs of hurricane devastation. The AP has more on the story here.
Google had been using satellite images of New Orleans that accurately showed broken levees, flooding and repair efforts. But in the new shots of the Big Easy, cranes, tarps and all indicators of human suffering have disappeared, giving the city the look of a "virtual Potemkin village," according to the AP. The Mississippi Gulf Coast gets a makeover, too. You can view all the pre- and post- and re-pre-Katrina shots here.
The city of New Orleans has denied requesting a Google change, but locals, some of whom have used Google images of their flooded home in negotiations with insurance adjusters, already smell a conspiracy. Rep. Brad Miller (D-North Carolina), the chairman of the House Science Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight called the photo swap "airbrushing history" and a "great injustice" to Katrina victims. Miller on Friday asked (.pdf) Google CEO Eric Schmidt to explain why the images were replaced. Miller also wants to know if Google was contacted by FEMA, USGS or any other federal agency concerning the satellite images.
UPDATE: Compiler has more on the story, including an explanation from Google posted on the company's official blog this morning.
