being social in a crisis2
TRANSCRIPT
Lessons learned from SnowedOutAtlanta
Michelle Sollicito Feb 2015
Who am I (Personal)? Mother of two children
Live in Marietta, just North of Atlanta
Run Marietta Moms (for 7 years)
Up to 500 members in the Marietta area
Facebook page MariettaMoms has 255 “likes”
Involved in Educational Advocacy
Facebook page FundCobbSchools
Successful joint campaign – Deal +$500m for Education
Now Cobb Candidate Forum too
Who am I (Professional)? 25+ years experience in IT and Websites
Lots of Business Continuity Planning/Disaster Recovery
Writer -Wrote a book about BCP/DR
Started my own company TxtToAd.com
Facebook app, mobile app and website
Read lots of business books
Facebook Effect (David Kirkpatrick)
Before The Storm Day before, warned schools might close early
Left work early to get kids from school
Skidded on the way home
Friends were trying to get husbands home
I connected people to help each other
I called for a State of Emergency, we all called Deal
Set up SnowedOutAtlanta at 4:15pm approx.
Facts and Figures (Snow Day 1) 12pm left work
12:30pm skidded
12:45pm got home
3pm called Governor Deal to announce State of Emergency
4:15pm approx started SnowedOutAtlanta
Started with mainly road /route information
Gathered news from websites and the news and others on the site
5:20pm Governor Deal announced State of Emergency, EOC opened
Facts and Figures (Snow Day 1) 6pm – 9pm desperation started to set in
Darkness made the whole thing more scary
911 was not answering and no one was coming to accidents
Women with babies had no diapers or formula
Kids needed the bathroom
Some people needed to take meds
Women were wearing high heels and skirts, not dressed for the weather
Schoolbuses had not arrived home
Facts and Figures (Snow Day 1) Mood changed in the group after about 8pm to one of rescue
Where gas was available, food and drink, car chargers etc.
Advice on how to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, avoid running out of gas, keep warm etc.
Hooked up travellers nearby
Where was shelter available (Google Maps)
Home Depot
Kroger/Publix
Waffle House
Chick Fil A
Hotels
People’s homes
Facts and Figures (Snow Day 1) 400 people had been helped directly by 11pm
29,000 members by midnight
100 posts per minute, 300 new members every 15 mins
500+ people put their OWN HOME on the google map, offering shelter to strangers!
By 8:30am approx the next morning group size was over 46,000
Helped a lot of people get home the next day
Helped a lot of people locate their cars after the event
Maximum members at 53,415 members
The Emotions of It All Elizabeth’s mom
Elizabeth is an old friend of mine
Elderly mother with hip replacement and broken hip
People from the site went and sat with her, gave her blankets
Ambulance got to her 2.5 hours after Elizabeth’s first post
Katie and Craig 8 mths pregnant with a 3 yr old son in car
Only food they had was tictacs, no drinks
Deena Loetz’s son got to ER
Pregnant sister is found
Kids on schoolbuses for 12+ hours
Katie and Craig Katie and Craig
8mths pregnant
3 yr old son
No food, drink, bathroom
Katie posted at 1:41am
SnowedOutAtlanta got to her
at 4:30am
SnowedOutAtlanta got to her
Home at 7:59am
Elizabeth’s Mom 9:17pm first post
10:50pm she is found by
SnowedOutAtlanta members
11:24pm ambulance arrives
Companies, Snow Day 1 Companies sheltered people, got BIG kudos:
Fairfield Inn, Hammond Drive
Home Depot
Chick Fil A
Waffle House
Kroger, Publix (mixed response)
Before Storm 2 (Feb 11th) Very clear message not to go out after 4:30pm
Lots of preparation messages on SnowedOutAtlanta
Emergency Kits for everyone, every situation
Weather radios, CB/Ham radios
Clear message of power outages being likely
How to prepare for power outages
Before Storm 2 (Feb 11th) Clear unified message about the threat
All agencies
“Catastrophic”
“Once in a lifetime event”
State of Emergency in
88 counties in GA
Before Storm - Utilities Links to Utilities’ info about how to prepare
Georgia Power video for setting up alerts
Many on the site did not know about other power
companies other than the one they use
Very few people seemed to know this info was
out there
Before Storm - Utilities Many people posted info they found useful
Asked questions
Georgia Power People liked that the
utilities were so honest
They liked the warnings
It scared them (good!)
Liked tools (esp apps!)
Facts and Figures (SnowDay 2) Mainly night of Feb 11th to Feb 12th
53,000 people on SnowedOutAtlanta
Huge numbers of power outages were reported
113,000+ Georgia Power customers alone were affected
AJC reported 150,000 out of power in Georgia
My perception from the site is it was higher than that
Later heard 250,000+
The Emotions of It All Kelli and her 6 kids
Carroll EMC
911 gave bad advice?
People were very upset
The Emotions of It All Trent Redmon’s Grandmother
In her 80’s
In hospital bed
Machines not working
Power outage
Utilities Bad Vibes for some – like Georgia EMC
Utilities Georgia Power Outages
Monitored Very Closely
Utilities Info on how to interact
with Georgia Power was
quickly shared
Utilities Misinformation was quickly cleared up
Many (even news reporters??) seemed to think Georgia Power’s map showed ALL outages across Georgia
People tried to correct that misinformation
Utilities SMS tools were LOVED and shared!
Why Did It Work?
SimpleUnexpectedConcreteCredibleEmotionalStories(madetostick.com)
Why Facebook? Responsive
Most smartphones, tablets and computers supported
Widely-used Get the word out to a mass audience quickly
Vote by “Like” or “Comment” The most needy cases bubbled to the top
Empowered people to help themselves/others
Central source of GREAT information Georgia Tech Emergency Communications Team impressed
Updated central document with latest information
Updated Google Map with central info
Why Maps? Google Maps was very popular
511 Traffic Map too
StormCenter type Maps
too
Why Twitter? Used by phones with minimal capabilities
Real-time, fast updates
Mass audience
Can see updates from multiple sources at once (e.g. GEMA, Governor Deal, local Police, 511 etc.)
What to Avoid..Using a page instead of a group
Multiple admins – one admin, one culture
Rules, rules, rules – have none
Banning or removing members from group
Uneducated facebook users
Advice..Being social means we take the rough with the smooth - it means that we ALL have free speech and others can post stuff we do not like. Unfortunately it also means others can post stuff that if we let it get to us can cause us to feel ill, even suicidal at the extreme end. Every person on Facebook has the responsiblity to notice when someone's posts are getting to them to an extent that they should not and there are many actions open to you:
Take a break from the group (leave the group completely is also an option)
Unfollow the post where comments are making you uncomfortable ( click on the down arrow at the top of the post and select turn off notifications)
Block the person who is making posts that make you uncomfortable (either unfriend them or click on their name and then click on ... on their personal page and then click block - or both)..
Report the person - if many people do this Facebook warns the user and may remove the person from Facebook. If the person has threatened someone online, Facebook will just tell you to call the police and let the police deal with it.
Report someone to the police. If someone on Facebook makes a direct death threat or threat of violence, definitely do this immediately. Also take screenshots of any evidence. Call a lawyer too.
Take a break from Facebook or even leave Facebook.
Lessons Learned 911 system failed
Functional needs community lacked support
Information was out of date and difficult to find
GA is never going to cope well with snow
GA DOT vehicles were ill equipped
Lessons Learned Governor Deal Severe Weather Task Force issues
Ready app from GEMA Communication with Meterologists improved Sensors on the roads
Many conferences and meetings for Emergency Mgt personnel to talk about improvements
Joint effort Companies (Home Depot, Kroger, Waffle House, etc.) Individuals Faith based organizations VOADs (Voluntary organizations like Red Cross)
Cobb County EMA (Bernard King) Tiered 911 with CERT support CERT push Exercises/drills
Conclusions People can do a lot in a crisis
(Tracy Hoover, Points of Light website)
People are empowered by Facebook / Social Media
Connectedness is key to survival both psychologically and physically in Emergency situations
Helping people actually became addictive!
If you need me..
Questions? Help? Consultancy available
Cell: 678 357 3661
Email: [email protected]
Tips, ideas and eBook and Paperback available
http://www.snowedoutatl.com
Appendix Utilities gave warnings
Appendix People advised others on
preparation for outages
Appendix People discussed
predictions of how bad
the storm would be
People discussed
preparation levels
Appendix People advised others on
preparation for outages
Appendix People reported outages
on the site
People were told how to
report outages
Appendix People loved Georgia Power Facebook page
and Youtube videos
Appendix People felt Utilities were prepared
Appendix 2 AJC reported more than
150,000 without power in GA
Appendix 2 Status of outages
reported in real time