In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

With Pakistan suffering its worst flooding in 80 years, I wanted to bring to your attention a web-based, civilian-created effort to raise money and be an information conduit both inside and outside the country on the disaster.

The Pakistan Crisis Wiki was created in 2005 by Pakistani native Sabahat Ashraf, a technical writer living in Silicon Valley, in response to an earthquake in the northern part of the country. He, along with a group of Pakistani bloggers (or “blaagers” as they call themselves) have kept the wiki up posting specific pages for other social issues (including human rights).

They recently created the Floods 2010 page with information on what is needed from the public in the relief effort. Ashraf also said that the Wiki can help local aid organizations inside Pakistan which do not always have significant web presences.

The Pakistan Crisis Wiki is a terrific example of the kind of technology application that is set up and ready in preparation for a disaster so people know where to go for information. It is very much along the lines of the CrisisWiki that NPR’s Andy Carvin and CrisisCommons have set up (I recommended to Ashraf he get in touch with Andy). And, I encourage you to check out the Floods 2010 Wiki page here.

A screenshot of a part of the Pakistan Crisis Wiki’s “Floods 2010″ page.