Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DIGITAL EARTH
Volume 13, Issue 12, Pages 1454-1466Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/17538947.2020.1729879
Keywords
Twitter; social media; Hurricane Harvey; flooding; rescue; online survey
Categories
Funding
- U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Social and Economic Sciences Division (SES) Hurricane Harvey 2017 Program [1762600]
- NSF Interdisciplinary Behavioral and Social Science Research (IBSS) Program [1620451]
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie
- SBE Off Of Multidisciplinary Activities [1620451] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Divn Of Social and Economic Sciences
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie [1762600] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Despite the increasingly prominent role of social media in disaster events, studies analyzing its use in rescue operations remain scanty. Hurricane Harvey hit Texas with unprecedented rainfall and flooding in 2017 and was marked by widespread use of social media for rescue requests. We conducted a survey of 195 Twitter users in Houston and surrounding communities who had requested for rescue during Harvey. The objective was to investigate our targeted group's socioeconomic and flood exposure characteristics, report the effectiveness of Twitter, and lessons learnt and suggestions made for its use in future rescue missions. Survey revealed that those requesting rescue on Twitter were better educated, employed (80%), and homeowners (81%). Majority of them were flooded (87%), but remained satisfied with current location and did not consider moving. Calling relatives and friends for rescue was most responsive and yielded higher assistance-provided rate than using Twitter. Our respondents found Twitter helpful, but identified issues such as not knowing when volunteers received their requests or whether they would send help. They suggested promoting Twitter accounts and hashtags that accept emergency requests. This study provides baseline information and actionable suggestions for first responders, community managers, and resilience practitioners to improve future rescue missions.
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