In addition to generators, batteries, bottled water and radios, Floridians may want to stock up on another hurricane-aftermath commodity: social media acumen.
A new poll released Wednesday showed that 72 percent of Americans belong to an online social network like Facebook or Twitter, and 45 percent would use it to contact friends and family in the aftermath of a natural disaster. The Sachs/Mason-Dixon poll was commissioned by Get Ready America! --a hurricane preparedness initiative.
During a conference call Wednesday, emergency management officials from the South outlined the advantages of social media before, during and after a natural disaster.
Florida officials are emphasizing their use of social media to get out warnings and preparation tips ahead of a hurricane.
In Florida, we recognize the power and the potential power of social media, said Bryan Koon, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Besides early warnings to the public, Koon said quick, real-time communication with electricity and other utility companies is another advantage of social media tools.
Its a terrific way, and a growing way, to enable working with counties' and utilities' providers to ensure that the infrastructure necessary to support those things is in place, Koon said.
Whereas Florida officials often have the advantage of alerting the public to a hurricane or tropical storm that may take days to hit the U.S., emergency management officials in other states have relied on social media to contact victims and coordinate cleanup in the aftermath of recent disasters.
A spate of recent tornadoes that wreaked havoc on parts of Tennessee, Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Joplin, Mo., gave residents in those areas little advanced warning.
The Tennessee Emergency Mangement Agency has had to contend with floods and tornadoes that ravaged large swaths of the state, affecting 64 of its 95 counties.
We used a lot of social media to do outreach to those folks, TEMA public information officer Jeremy Heidt said of victims of those disasters.
Although a great number of Americans are using social media, there is still a discrepancy among social media use across age groups, and some communication tools and devices may be misused or underused after a disaster.
More than 90 percent of Americans aged 18 to 34 years old use some form of social media network, and 63 percent of them say they will use them during a disaster. Those numbers, however, drop to 75 percent and 44 percent, respectively, among those aged 35 to 59. There is also a significant gender gap, with 75 percent of women using a social network compared to 68 percent of men, and 51 percent of women saying they would use it during a disaster, whereas only 39 percent of men would.
Cell phones or land line phones are the go-to form of communication in the aftermath of a natural disaster for more than half of Americans, but land lines and cell phone towers can often be knocked out after a storm or disaster.
Michelle Ubben, national coordinator of Get Ready America!, said that only 8 percent of those surveyed said they would use text messages to communicate after a disaster, even though it can be one of the most reliable forms of communication in such circumstances.
Marshall Criser, President of AT&T in Florida, said that his company helped the Joplin, Mo., tornado victims by rushing COWs, or cells on wheels, to the disaster area to help residents communicate with friends, family, aid workers and government officials.
Our teams were ready with COWs... To ensure that they had service, Criser said.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
