Social Media: A Powerful Tool in a Time of Disaster

I know some of you (perhaps many of my own Facebook friends and blog readers) are tired of seeing flood-related posts and updates. Because it's sad, and it makes your heart hurt. 

But the Internet and social media are some of our best communication tools--especially during a disaster. They can help us get the word out about what's going on, which roads are closed and open, who is being evacuated, and how those of us who are safe and dry can help those who aren't.

Helping Monday night at the Disaster Relief Center in Loveland, CO

Social media can help spread the word that Gary and Jodi ODell from Estes Park, Colorado need to find a winter home for 50-70 horses, and they are willing to relocate them to other states, or that the Raintree Athletic Club in Fort Collins is letting evacuees use their showers.

I know lots of people in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming who might have room for those horses, and the fastest way for me to get in touch with them all is through social media.There are a lot of people in Colorado right now who can't shower, wash dishes, do laundry or flush their toilets, because their city's water treatment and sewage plants have been compromised. Imagine how thrilled they might be to find out there's a place they can go for a hot shower.

Last night on Facebook I posted photos of my family helping with relief efforts. Not to say, "Hey, look at us! Aren't we great?" but so my local friends can see that if they want to help, they can take the whole family to the Disaster Relief Center in Loveland, CO to sort donations. It's not always easy to find ways for young kids to give "hands-on" help after a disaster like this. A lot of the relief efforts are going to be grown-up jobs involving heavy equipment, power tools, and people going into areas that aren't entirely safe. So I was thrilled to find something my kids could do, and I think others will be too.  

Via social media, I can quickly and easily provide friends with links and contact information about how to sign up to volunteer.  I can spread the word, after talking in person to the people running the Disaster Center, that they really need men's and women's deodorant and buckets and rubber gloves for cleaning.   

And how did I find out about this opportunity to serve? Facebook.

My friend Emily posted on Facebook this morning that she's going shopping for donations and offered to pick up supplies up for anyone else who wants to contribute, no matter where they live. Before social media, Emily would have had to call up every friend she had before she went to the store. Now, with one post on Facebook, she can enlist the help of 426 friends around the country, and even the world. And she will probably reach a lot of people that, outside of social media channels, she doesn't even have contact information for.

My friend Brandony, who doesn't even live in Colorado anymore, is sharing photos of rescued pets who need to find their owners.  Last night my friend Lynette share that she'll be going to the badly damaged Gateway Baptist Church in Loveland to help clean.  She invited folks to join her shared the necessary information so they could sign up to help.

During this week of flooding in Colorado, I have used social media to try and help two friends find a safe route home for their husbands, who had gone to work Friday morning and were trying to get home as roads and bridges were closing rapidly all around of them. Via Instagram, I discovered that people I know in Sterling are in the no-flush zone and offered them a shower and  place to do laundry. They may not take me up on the offer, but after a few days of no flushing, you never know.

On Friday, when we were confined to our side of town, I used social media to offer folks who couldn't get home a meal or a place to stay.  I made lots and lots of pizza, just in case. A friend had a friend who was  struggling to find a way home and called to ask if we would feed her. We happily agreed. She found an open route home at the last minute, but you just never know who is going to see your posts and take you up on your offers of help.

What about Twitter, you ask? I admit it. I just don't get Twitter and I probably never will. But I do have a Twitter account for my food blog. I have never tweeted a single personal thing there. You'll find nothing but links to recipes. However, I do follow every local news organization, along with the Twitter feeds of my city, county, sheriff's office, the Department of Transportation and any other organization that I think might provide useful information in an emergency.

On Friday, when the flood waters were rising here in Ft. Collins and all the bridges (along with the Interstate) in town were closed, you can bet I kept my smart phone constantly charging. We were never in danger of flooding, but our power could have gone out. And with no access to the television or computer, my phone and that Twitter account would have been my best source of information, at least until the battery died. Granted not everyone has Internet access in a disaster, but if you do, a Twitter account may just be your best friend.

Not everyone can afford to make donations. Not everyone is physically able to get out there and help with clean-up. But just about everybody I know has the ability to go online and spread whatever important information needs to be spread. Because of the Internet, it really is a small, small world. You never know how sharing something as simple as where people can go for a shower might make a huge difference in a person's life. As I type this, the news that there are 70 horses who need a home has already reached people in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and other parts of Colorado.

What about all the photographs? Some of them are just so heart wrenching. Do we really need to keep sharing those? Well, maybe not. But I'm pretty proud to spread photos of the Colorado National Guard rescuing thousands of people. It's kind of a way of saying thank you. And what about the photos of all the destruction. Well, if one more person sees the suffering and decides to send a donation or say a prayer for Colorado, I'll take it.

Yes, the constant deluge of bad news can be emotionally draining. But chances are, if you feel emotionally drained by all the coverage, you are warm and dry at home, with access to your own television and computer. So walk away for a while if you need to, but don't wish for people to stop sharing and posting and reporting, because that's how we can help each other.

When we went to help at the Disaster Center last night, they told us they'd be there for 6 months. G's cousin from Calgary, which experienced devastating floods 4 months ago, shared that they are just starting to see the mental health and addiction issues that come to light after a disaster like this. It's been almost a year since Hurricane Sandy, and people are still recovering.

Remember that--all of you who are safe and dry at home today--when you get tired of hearing about the flood (or whatever disaster comes next) on television and the Internet.

And be thankful  that you do not have to feel tired of living it.

Colorado Flooding

I just wanted to share an update, along with some photos and videos of what is happening in Colorado. Here in Fort Collins, we've been very lucky and things are slowly returning to normal. We've been out and about today (after being confined to our neighborhood on the North side of the Poudre River yesterday, because every bridge across the river was closed yesterday).  Here's an aerial video of the flooding in Fort Collins yesterday.

 

This is nothing compared to what others in Colorado are dealing with today. We've received about 5 inches of rain over the last few days. Some areas of Boulder (about an hour away) have received over 18 inches. That is not a typo. It's over A YEAR'S WORTH OF RAIN IN A 3-DAY PERIOD!

Boulder, CO on the night of Sept. 11, 2013

Denver's average annual rainfall is 14.92 inches. Suburbs of Denver have received over 11 inches from this storm alone. "Biblical rainfall amounts" was not an exaggeration by the National Weather Service. It's almost incomprehensible.

About 20 miles south down I-25, we take Highway 34 to go up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. The Big Thompson River flows along the highway down the canyon. Here's what it looked like at the bottom of the canyon yesterday. The road is gone.

This is the road the elementary school kids from town were supposed to take home from their 5th grade school camp. I'm happy to report that they were able to take a different (and much longer) route and will be home in a few hours.

 Other students at camps further south had to hike out, and some had to be taken out by helicopter.

Speaking of school kids, this was the elementary and middle school about 15 miles north of us yesterday morning. Our school is now a Red Cross evacuation center.

This is the Interstate about 20 miles south of here yesterday.

This is an incredible video of firefighters driving through the streets of Longmont, CO, about 30 miles south of us. Keep in mind the height of a firetruck.

After the rivers spilled over their banks and came raging down from the mountains, the water began spilling out onto the plains yesterday afternoon. All of this came after days of flooding in other areas. It was almost too much to bear.

All of that farmland, people's lives and livelihoods, are now just a big ocean in a landlocked state.

Many towns, like Lyons, are completely isolated. The water treatment plant is gone. The gas company had to turn of service because gas lines were damaged.  They have no water, no sewer service, no electricity, no way out.

The National Guard began to rescue them yesterday, when the weather cleared enough for them to fly. They have rescued more than 800 people across Colorado so far, including a young pregnant lady who is due tomorrow--and they are still working. Previously, the Defense Department sent in Coast Guard helicopters to help with rescue operations. It's hard to believe we needed the Coast Guard in Colorado.

These people were on their way to who knows where yesterday morning when the road just collapsed underneath them.

I am happy to report they were all rescued. Including Roy Ortiz, who survived survived by positioning his head in a small air bubble near the back of his car--the overturned silver sedan at the bottom right. Others were not so lucky. 

Here's an article outlining just how dire things are as of Saturday afternoon.

As I write this, clouds are moving in and some areas are bracing for another 2-3 inches overnight.

Pray it doesn't come.

We're Staying Dry

Less than a month into the school year and school has been cancelled for the second time. First for heat, now for flooding. We are safe and dry at our house, but can't really go anywhere. The Poudre River runs east/west through Fort Collins, and every north/south road over the river is closed.

The interstate is also closed. This is what I-25 looks like about 20 miles south of us.

We have friends in shelters, friends stuck on the south side of town who can't get home....G contact a co-worker this morning from Longmont (about 30 miles south) who had to take her dogs and swim across a creek to get out. She doesn't even have a cell phone.

Another co-worker in Boulder was evacuated yesterday. Her entire first floor is under water. Elementary school kids who went up into the mountains for Eco-Week (a 3-day 5th grade field trip) are stranded and can't get home. My friend's son is up in Estes Park with his entire 5th grade class. And besides the obvious concern any mother would feel, her oldest son is leaving on a church mission in 3 days. So you can imagine how much she'd like to have her family together right now!

The National Weather Service has used the phrase "biblical amounts of rain" to describe what's going on here. Biblical = Noah and his ark, so if you're the praying kind, we could sure use your prayers here in Colorado today!