How Social Innovation Became A Lifeline During Hurricane Sandy

This is how social innovation played a positive part to keep people updated about Hurricane Sandy, which hit the east coast of America on 29 October. Let us start with Facebook. According to this social media giant, the ten words and phrases most posted by Facebook users over the crucial 24 hours when Hurricane Sandy was about to hit were: Sandy / hurricane/Hurricane Sandy; stay safe/be safe; storm; weather; east coast; power; my friends; cold; prayers/praying and wind/winds. Radian6, who measures social media use, says

Google helped those affected prepare for the storm with adedicated crisis map which used social innovation to track Sandy's path, letting users choose between several layers of information, such as the current location of the storm, forecast track, shelter locations, cloud imagery, public alerts and more. Google also launched a special Sandy crisis map for New York City which displayed information about evacuation zones, evacuation centres and the Red Cross emergency shelters.

If you had a smartphone there were quick, easy and cheap useful apps to download to keep people up-to-date about Sandy. There was something called the Hurricane Tracker for iOS, which delivered the latest forecasts and National Hurricane Centre data on the storm's path right to your iPhone. It also included relevant Twitter feeds from storm centres and meteorologists. The American Red Cross has a vital Hurricane app for iOS and Android with many features. It tracks weather information, lets you broadcast an "I'm safe" message to friends and family and if you do need to evacuate your home, it maps the nearest Red Cross shelter. It also has a list of steps to take in case of an emergency.

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Sangeeta Haindl is a staff writer for Justmeans on Social Enterprise. When not writing for Justmeans, Sangeeta wears her other hat as a PR professional. Over the years, she has worked with high-profile organizations within the public, not-for-profit and corporate sectors; and won awards from her industry. She now runs her own UK consultancy: Serendipity PR & Media.