The New York Times Gift Article: “Known for tracking California wildfires, Watch Duty is moving beyond that mission. Millions of people are turning to it for help…The mapping and forecasting provided by this app, Watch Duty, are quickly becoming indispensable for emergency authorities, utility crews and residents in parts of the country that, until recently, seemed relatively safe from fires and floods alike. Watch Duty began culling disaster data from government warnings, weather forecasts, radio scanners and social media five years ago to help residents of a few California counties track wildfires and plan evacuations. Since then, it’s boomed. In January 2025, after a firestorm swept through Los Angeles, millions of new users joined. Utilities and philanthropic groups have sent millions of dollars to help expand the app’s focus. And this year, it has started to cover wildfires on the East Coast and widespread threats of sudden catastrophic flooding in other regions, too. The changing climate means existing systems for dealing with disasters haven’t always kept pace with hazards. But Watch Duty is growing more like a tech start-up than the public-service-oriented nonprofit it is. “People are hungry for information,” said Yusra Kauppila, a regional captain for Watch Duty, one of the dozens of paid staff members and volunteers who gather and vet the data shared with users. The app has attracted 10 million unique users this year, the organization said, putting it on a pace to surpass the nearly 17 million users it reported in 2025…”