In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

On the KnowTheNetwork.com blog, there is a fascinating post, “Tornado Alley, Twitter Style,” by Keith Crawford. He offers a terrific case study of how Twitter — and in particular the hashtag #ARwx created by one Tweeter — outpaced the mainstream media in informing his Arkansas community when a tornado struck this week:
Apr 30, 2010 may well [...]

[Read more →]

This edition of the “What Should We Tell The Public?” video series features John Shea who manages FEMA’s extensive social media effort. In the segment, Shea urges the public to look online to find information about preparing for emergencies as well as to share info and learn from others. He recommends citizens go to the [...]

[Read more →]

I wanted to highlight two points I heard during a terrific recent webinar, “Social Media and Technology Breakthroughs: H1N1 and Seasonal Flu Communication”:  one about the Centers For Disease Control’s (CDC) view that mobile phones have an increasingly valuable role in public health communications and another about Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management’s expanded use of Twitter.
In [...]

[Read more →]

I recently had the opportunity to speak with James Featherstone, the General Manager of Los Angeles’ Emergency Management Department, about the City’s citizen outreach efforts, particularly the relaunch of the Department’s website Ready LA.
When it comes to public preparedness, Featherstone has a bad news/good news situation. On the negative side, the Department must prepare and respond [...]

[Read more →]

Jeannette Sutton has a terrific post on her Disaster Sociologist blog, “The Cavalry is Assembling: Two Social Media Responses to Hurricane Ida.” She describes how two different online initiatives — the Hurricane Information Center and Emicus.com — began mobilizing to respond to what was initially predicted to be a major storm.
In the end, Ida ended [...]

[Read more →]

Andy Carvin, who spearheaded creation of the innovative Hurricane Information Center during Gustav and Ike last summer, has announced on his Twitter feed that the site is looking for online volunteers to help with preparations for what is now Tropical Storm Ida. The Center serves as a comprehensive clearinghouse and aggregator of information/content in addition [...]

[Read more →]

Andrew Ostrow of Mashable had an interesting post pointing out how the new Twitter Lists have already become excellent resources for the public during emergencies as was demonstrated last week during the Ft. Hood shootings.
The Lists allow Twitter users to organize the feeds they’re following into groups. And, Ostrow notes the work of several news [...]

[Read more →]

The City of Boston has just launched two new online tools to help residents prepare a family preparedness plan and find their local emergency shelter.

According to the ReadyBoston press release:
“The Family Preparedness Planner and the Shelter Finder provide interactive ways for residents to answer logistical questions that would arise in an emergency. The Planner is [...]

[Read more →]

On Wednesday, there is a free webinar on utilizing social media and other technologies for H1N1 and seasonal flu communications. It is being organized by the Center of Excellence for Risk and Crisis Communications at Booz Allen Hamilton.
The one-hour webinar is co-sponsored by the American Public Health Association, the International Association of Emergency Managers and the [...]

[Read more →]

An interesting and comprehensive piece on the changing paradigm of disaster communications, “Information Trickles Up,” by Jerry Brito and Daniel M. Rothschild was recently posted on the Local Knowledge project site of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. The authors write:
The traditional view of disaster communications holds that in an emergency, information and instructions must [...]

[Read more →]