Digital Preparedness in the Age of Social Media

alex de carvalho Social media’s impact on

disaster response

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Natural   Man  made  

Major  

Flood  Hurricane  Tornado  Drought  

Earthquake  Fires  

Se:ng  of  fires  Epidemic  

Deforesta?on  Pollu?on  War  

Crop  failures  

Minor  

Cold  Wave  Thunderstorm  Heat  Wave  Mud  Slide  Avalanche  Hailstorm  Storm  

Accidents  Riots  

Terrorism  Refugees  

Food  poisoning  Industrial  disasters  

Pollu?on  

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Every  natural  disaster  is  man  made  because  we  have  put  ourselves  in  the  path  of  nature  

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Event Date Economic  impact Death  toll

Bam  earthquake,  Iran Dec  2003 $3.0B 26,271

Indonesia  earthquake  &  tsunami Dec  2004 $9,900B 227,898  

Hurricane  Katrina Aug  2005 $150B 1,836

Pakistan  earthquake Oct  2005 $7.3B 87,351

Cyclone  Nargis,  Myanmar May  2008 $10B 138,366

Sichuan  earthquake May  2008 $500B 69,180

Hai?  earthquake Jan  2010 Over  $7.2B 220,000  to  316,000

Chile  earthquake Feb  2010 Over  $30B   800

Fukushima  tsunami Mar  2011 Over  $243B   1,607

China  floods Sep  2011 Over  $6.5B   355

Beichuan  floods Jul  2013 $137B 73

Typhoon  Haiyan  (Yolanda) Nov  2013 Over  $14B 6,340

Hurricane  Sandy Oct  2012 $65B 285

Nepal  earthquake April  &  May  2015 Over  $10B 8,019

“Disasters  bring  disrup?on  in  the  normal  social  

life,  create  chaos,  tear  down  social  structure  

and  destroy  social  order”  

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Disasters  cause  both    

a  physical  and  an  

informa(on  

breakdown  

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“Disasters  provide  a  realis?c  laboratory  for  

tes?ng  the  integra?on,  stamina,  and  

recupera?ve  of  a  large  scale  social  systems.”  

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How  can  we  prepare  before  a  storm  

digitally  

to  bounce  back  more  quickly  acerward?  

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South  Florida’s  Context  

•  No  hurricane  since  Wilma  in  2005  •  One  million  new  residents  moved  to  South  Florida  in  the  

past  10  years  •  Massive  development  boom  •  Greater  urban  concentra?on  •  Rapid  growth  of  coastal  communi?es  •  Rising  sea  level  •  Storm  surges  are  responsible  for  some  of  the  largest  losses  

of  life  

•  Only  40%  of  our  popula?on  is  ready  for  a  hurricane  

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What  can  we  do  to  prepare  digitally?  

Resources  are  limited  

Time  counts  

Reduce  wasted  effort  

Save  lives  

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What  can  we  do  to  prepare  digitally?  

1.  Damage  assessment    

2.  Traffic  cop  /  switchboard  

3.  Directories    

4.  Monitoring    

5.  Influencing    

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DigitalResiliency.com