Safety Cast coming soon
When Disaster Strikes, Trust Shouldn't Be a Casualty
Why we need a new approach to public safety information
During the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California, residents received conflicting evacuation orders from different agencies. In the chaos, people didn't know which roads were passable, which shelters were open, or whether their loved ones were safe. Some turned to social media—only to find a mix of outdated information, well-meaning speculation, and outright falsehoods spreading faster than the flames themselves.
This is the reality of public safety information in 2024: fragmented across dozens of agencies, drowned out by algorithmic noise, and increasingly difficult to trust.
The Problem: Information Chaos When It Matters Most
When emergencies happen, we instinctively reach for our phones. But what we find is a mess:
Government alerts buried in email spam folders
Local news paywalled or understaffed
Social media amplifying rumors and panic
Weather apps showing only weather, not the wildfire smoke or chemical spill a mile away
Crime apps sensationalizing isolated incidents for engagement
The current ecosystem isn't designed to help you make decisions. It's designed to capture attention.
A Different Philosophy: Accuracy Over Engagement
SafetyCast starts from a simple premise: in an emergency, trust is everything.
That means:
If we don't have verified data for your location, we tell you. No fabricated "safety scores" to fill the void. A blank spot on the map is more honest than a guess.
Every data point has a source. NOAA for weather. USGS for earthquakes. CDC for disease outbreaks. No anonymous tips, no unverified social posts, no algorithmic predictions masquerading as facts.
Severity is standardized. A "critical" alert means the same thing whether you're in Tokyo or Toronto—not whatever generates the most clicks.
Beyond Doom-Scrolling: Information That Empowers Action
Most safety apps treat you as a passive consumer of fear. SafetyCast is built for people who want to do something:
Understand your actual risks across nine categories—from natural disasters to infrastructure failures to public health threats—ranked by proximity, severity, and urgency.
Find help when you need it. Hospitals, shelters, police stations—real-time distances, not just pins on a map.
Know what works. Which communities invest in preparedness? Which response programs actually reduce harm? Data-driven transparency, not partisan finger-pointing.
Take meaningful action. Direct links to vetted relief organizations. Resources for household preparedness. Tools to check on loved ones.
The Vision: Shifting the Conversation
We believe emergency preparedness shouldn't be an afterthought—for households, communities, or governments.
When people can see, clearly and accurately, how risks compare across regions... when they can track how investments in preparedness actually reduce harm... when "getting prepared" means more than buying bottled water... that's when real change happens.
A city that looks dangerous today can transform with awareness and concerted action. SafetyCast is built to show that progress—not to freeze places in time with permanent labels, but to demonstrate that preparation works.
Why Now?
Climate change is intensifying natural disasters. Infrastructure is aging. Geopolitical instability creates new risks. And the information environment has never been more polluted.
We can't afford to wait for the next crisis to realize our current tools aren't working.
SafetyCast is currently in development. We're building a public safety tool that prioritizes trust over engagement, accuracy over speed, and action over anxiety.
Because when the next disaster comes—and it will—you deserve information you can actually rely on.