New Port Richey, Florida Real Estate Blog

Twitter in a Natural Disaster, terrorist attack or any other Emergency

I am sorry if you feel I am beating Twitter like a dead horse, but I do believe in its power, and here is one more way.

9/11 - It took me weeks, having just moved from Long Island to Florida the month before, how many of my friends died that day.  Unfortunately it was 8, but my cousin, a disabled FDNY was going to funerals/wakes EVERY DAY for months on end.  Like most of you, it was Surreal, to say the least, but the inability to communicate left you in a state of unknown.  I hate that

Hurricane Katrina - trying to re-unite with families after being scattered across the SouthEast or the entire Country.

I could go on, but I think you get the jist of it.  Disasters & Emergencies strikes and nobody is able to communicate.  Lines are down,  Systems are overloaded.  Nobody can reassure relatives and friends they are ok. 

So how can Twitter help in this case?  Not everybody uses it, certainly not my parents/grandparents etc...

I have set up an additional account for myself as an emergency account.  I have created accounts for my inner circle of Family and Friends.  I made these all Protected Accounts.  People can not just follow us.  Only we will get each others tweets.  Right now there is only 1 tweet in all the accounts - TEST

The key to using Twitter in an Emergency Situation is The accounts are unused, they are protected so only the necessary people can communicate, and all the Accounts are set up to go to Email & Text message.

This email & Text Message is saved.  If a relative or friend, who is not actively involved in Twitter, finds themselves in the next Hurricane Katrina they have an entry in their cell phone From Twitter that they can reply to, which will let everybody in the circle automatically know their condition.  

1 tweet and everybody you care about knows.  WHY, because when the voice networks are overloaded, typically the data networks are still functional.  Everybody can check in with one message, that everybody they care about, will receive at the same time.  1 tweet from each person in the group notifies everybody else in the group of their status.  1 message notifies everyone you care about. 

I had to set up my brothers, mother and father because they are not online.  But they now know how to contact all of us in an emergency.  And each person can individualize their list.  Obviously each family member will have the same family members, but different friends.  So those lists are custom.  You may have to do it for each non-Internet Tech Savvy friend/family member, but in the end, you only have to do it once and have it there when the next Natural Disaster, Terrorist Attack or any other Emergency.

How much better will you feel, if with a single tweet your family/friends can tell you they are FINE.  Than you can start co-ordinating emergency assistance amongst those in the Natural Disaster, Terrorist Attack or any other Emergency, who have limited services from those outside the area.