I think we’ll find quite often that people located remotely from an incident can actually be of great help if they have credible information sources, as those physically close to an event may be overly consumed with evaluating potential (or present) impact on their lives or situations, and may suffer from infrastructure outages, while those more distant may be in a better position to provide certain types of updates. Obviously, eyewitness accounts will only come from those on scene.

I suppose even there we may see exceptions. A TV network in San Diego recently tweeted seeking area residents who may have photos of an in-progress wildfire to send them in. I responded with a link to an area webcam that had a good view of the fire, again from half a continent away.

Lots of people far from Christchurch, NZ, really helped curate and spread the word in the aftermath of their earthquake as well.

I cannot tell what city Oldham was located in. I also have talked to someone in Indiana who tried to help with essential information. I am curious as to whether out-of-towners do prove to be helpful.