I recently wrote several posts, The Aftermath Of Hurricane Barry On Bayou Castine Louisiana ,Tropical Storm Barry Prep On Bayou Castine and UPDATE TROPICAL STORM-WARNING Along With Google SOS Alerts I’m Using The Smart911 App, on my experiences when Hurricane Barry hit Louisiana. Here in St. Tammany, we experienced Tropical Storm force winds and severe flooding, and like much of Louisiana. our roads flooded, making them completely impassible. I was trapped in my house for several days, unable to leave until the water subsided. I was well stocked with supplies and did fine. My next door neighbor evacuated, because her small daughter was afraid of the alligators that swim in the flood waters.
During Hurricane Barry, when my road was completely submerged, on July 13th, 2019, impassible, and barricaded off by the Mandeville Police department, I went to Google Maps to mark the road as closed. Recently @AriMar wrote two excellent posts in announcements about this feature. Unfortunately it wasn’t available. My only option was to put it in as a regular edit as road closed, which immediately went to "pending” where it remains today! As it was never accepted, there is no option to reopen the road. I have sent feedback through the app.
However, this was a dire situation. There are people living on boats back here, on Bayou Castine, and additionally people who wanted to know if they could return to their traditional homes. My neighbors followed my instagram for photos of their home. Then on July 15th, when the Hurricane and Tropical Storm was over, and the road dry, open, and the feature no longer needed, Google Maps had the "report a road closure” for "Tropical Storm Barry” on my phone.
I hope that in the future the timeliness of the feature improves, as it will be excellent, if it worked properly.