The Census Bureau released OnTheMap for Emergency Management Version 2.0 today, the beginning of the 2011 hurricane season. Version 2.0 adds floods and wildfires to hurricanes which was released last year.

OnTheMap for Emergency Management is a public data tool that provides unique detail on the workforce, for U.S. areas affected by hurricanes, floods, and wildfires, in real time. The web-based tool provides an intuitive interface for viewing the location and extent of current and forecasted emergency events on a map, and allows users to easily retrieve detailed reports containing labor market characteristics for these areas. The reports provide the number and location of jobs, industry type, worker age and earnings. Worker race, ethnicity, and educational attainment levels are under a beta release at this time.

To provide users with the latest information available, OnTheMap for Emergency Management automatically incorporates real time data updates from the National Weather Service, Departments of Interior and Agriculture, and other agencies for hurricanes, floods, and wildfires.

Version 2.0 includes the following new features and enhancements:

• Real Time Updates for Hurricanes, Floods and Wildfires
•  Expanded Hurricane Detail (Forecast Area, Current Wind Radii, Wind History)
• Expanded Reports with New Beta Data on Demographic Characteristics (Race, Ethnicity, Educational Attainment)
• Improved User Interface with New Map, Navigation, and Search Tools Map
• Animation & Timeline for Viewing Daily Event Histories

Version 2.0 also includes updated help documentation including a getting started guide, system requirements, and frequently asked questions. Data for the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire are not available at this time.

OnTheMap for Emergency Management is supported by the state Labor Market Information agencies under the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) partnership with the Census Bureau.

OnTheMap for Emergency Management Version 2.0 can be accessed by selecting “Local Employment Dynamics” at //www.census.gov and then OnTheMap for Emergency Management under Quick Links, or directly at //lehdmap.did.census.gov/em.html.

What do you think of the new version of OnTheMap? Post your comments here.