In a move which has come as Google's response to the deadly Hurricane Sandy that has wrecked havoc on the US East Coast, the Internet search biggie introduced a new service - dubbed `Public Alerts' - on Monday night, to send emergency alerts to Google users.

Though Google was already working on the `Public Alerts' service, which it intended introducing later on, Hurricane Sandy has prompted the company to release the service right away, so that people can be provided information about the storm.

With Google also having come up with a live interactive Super Storm Sandy 2012 crisis map for people to get real-time emergency information about Hurricane Sandy online, the new `Public Alerts' service has been made available on Google Search & Maps in browsers, as well as on Google Maps for Android, and even on Google Now for Android Jellybean-powered devices.

While the emergency alerts show up when Google users search for Hurricane Sandy on Google. com and Google Maps, the interactive map allows users to toggle checkboxes to know about power outages, shelters, evacuation routes, storm predictions, and YouTube videos, among other similar storm-related information.

Noting that the `Public Alerts' service will show warnings about natural disasters and emergencies based on details forwarded by government agencies like Ready. gov and the National Weather Service, Nigel Snoad - Google Crisis Response's product manager - said in an official blog post that the service underscores Google's "continuing mission to bring emergency information to people when and where it is relevant."