Vyom Aggarwal wins Rep. John Duarte’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 13th District

When asked what inspired the creation of Lifeline, the student said, “Around the world, millions of people have died from deadly natural disasters. As a resident of California, I am always hearing about natural disasters on the news. In 2024 itself, California has already gone through more than 7,000 wildfires. Also California resides on the San Andreas fault, meaning that it is one of the locations that is the most prone to earthquakes. Not only that, due to the fragileness of nearby levees for the San Joaquin river, flooding is a big risk for the communities every year. Me and my family have been affected twice by these natural disasters, and had to be evacuated once. We opened our doors to guests during a recent fire event in a neighboring city. I have seen my parents and our guests terrified, perplexed, not knowing what to do, and desperate to get help during these situations to protect themselves and their families. Also, I have seen people living in the mid west and east coast of USA, being severely affected by cyclones, tornadoes and storms. One of the groups of people who are highly vulnerable and are severely affected by these natural disasters are the senior citizens. They are not very tech-savvy and do not know what to do in such situations. Hence I decided to build an app which can act as a central source of information and help all residents – young and seniors – during natural disasters. My goal is to create an app which is:

1) Easy to use with very few clicks hence causes low user friction. 

2) Has large icons and fonts making it easier to read and understand.”