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Social media use grows during Sandy crisis

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]urricane Sandy left an unprece­dented mark on the region, but it also sparked a social media storm.

Last month’s hurricane brought unforeseen destruction in Westchester and power outages, but also raised the bar of platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which were shown to be effective–particularly via smart phones–communication tools during and after the intense weather.

More than 20 million people sent tweets about the storm between Oct. 27 and Nov. 1 under the hashtags #sandy and #hurricane.

New Rochelle City Councilman Jared Rice, a Democrat, was one of them.

During Hurricane Sandy, storm-related tweets peaked at 20 percent of the total Twitter search queries.
During Hurricane Sandy, storm-related tweets peaked at 20 percent of the total Twitter search queries.

Finding it dif­ficult to communicate with residents, Rice utilized his personal Twitter account, @coun­cilmanrice, and Facebook to effectively “get the word out,” he said.

The councilman began tweeting updates on Con Edison restorations and fuel levels at gas stations in the aftermath of the historic hur­ricane. “This storm was more severe than any­thing we’ve ever seen,” the councilman said. “I tried to just make the most use of [social media] in this crisis.”

On Oct. 29, as people turned to Twitter to search for storm-related information, Sandy tweets peaked at 20 percent of the total Twitter search queries. The media tool was used by residents, emergency personnel, organizations, and most important, by some of the state’s highest elected officials—the most prominent being Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat.

The goal was to communicate cru­cial information in preparation of the storm, during its height and in the aftermath.

Diana Costello, communications special­ist for County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican, said before Sandy hit, county officials met to discuss ways to communicate with the public.

“We knew that information was going to be critical to people in dealing with preparing for Sandy,” said Costello, who handled most of the tweets for Westchester government. “We tweeted even before it hit.”

Through Twitter handles like @westches­tergov and @robastorino, the county updated residents on the power situation and where to go for help in a way never seen before.

“We really made a very concerted effort from the start to use so­cial media as one of our main means of com­munication,” she said. “The response was tre­mendous. The more we realized people were really paying attention, the more we knew it was right to do.”

Port Chester Mayor Dennis Pilla, a Democrat, said social media was very power­ful amid Sandy and that the tool was shown to be particularly handy during the severe power outages. At the height of the hurricane, 9,000 Port Chester households lost power out of 179,000 total Westchester resi­dents, and more than 2 million statewide.

“You may not know [without social media] that there are still one or two houses without power on a block,” the mayor said.

Platforms like Twitter were also helpful for residents to use as a means to finding fuel or the shortest lines for it.

On Nov. 5, New Rochelle’s Sara Doolan, 23, tweeted that Costco off of Main Street in New Rochelle had gas and short lines.

“Some of my friends texted me to let me know they had gone and gotten gas,” she said. “They didn’t even know Costco sold gas.”

Lines for fuel were so crippling in the weeks following the storm that gridlock was seen throughout the county. Eric Yi of Larchmont said through Twitter he learned to avoid cer­tain roads because of gas traffic.

“I had to avoid Mamaroneck Avenue altogether when trying to get to I-95 for work,” said Yi, 24. “I saw lots of people attempting to assist each other and coordinate [through social media] where gas was available during the shortage.”

Doolan learned that gas was easier to come by in Connecticut, thanks to Twitter. She was able to fill up her tank over the state line with­out having to wait for hours.

Communications efforts were just as cru­cial for local municipalities in their response to the storm.

In Rye, the city utilized its Nixle notifica­tion system, reaching 2,800 of its residents. The system provides access to emergency in­formation, road closures or advisory informa­tion and is linked to the city and schools list serve, city website, Rye TV and sent to local media.

“The messages did get viral,” said Rye Mayor Doug French.

However, the city does not have an official social media component. French, a Republican, has his own Twitter account, @mayor10580, but it lacks the amount of followers needed to spread information efficiently, he said.

French said the city is looking into setting up a city social media component to include an official Twitter account for Rye. “Potentially a Facebook and Twitter account to disseminate information,” French said.

Between Oct. 27 and Oct. 30, tweets men­tioning the Red Cross increased 30-fold. Additionally, the usage of Twitter by people in New York City peaked on Oct. 29 at roughly 9 p.m., more than doubling the usage from the previous two days. In the week following the storm, mention of the word “donate” was at a 180-day peak and the phrase “donate blood” was at a 365-day peak, according to Twitter.

Even numerous nonprofits took to social media to access their local communities for shelter and donations. The Rye YMCA, which is located along the Blind Brook, typically suf­fers from flooding and power outages during a storm of any significance. But since flooding that occurred in Rye was limited to coastal areas, the Rye Y maintained its power and was in a rare position to lend a helping hand.

“This was a first for us,” said Gregg Howells, executive director of the Rye YMCA.

Through the likes of Twitter, Facebook and email blasts, the Y invited residents to shower, recharge cellphones, grab a cup of coffee or access WIFI.

Lisa Tidball, media coordinator for the Rye Y, said it is hard to know how effective Twitter was during the storm, but the overall response was so overwhelming that the Y had to double its WiFi usage due to demand.

“It is the first time we used Twitter to invite people in,” she said. “In the past, we had to use it to commu­nicate to people that the facility was closed.”

Port Chester Mayor Pilla said oftentimes, like in situations such as excessive power out­ages, going door to door to notify residents is ineffective. Instead, he said he used social media to communicate essential information, such as where to get dry ice and the hours of operation of local shelters.

Using a combination of social media, email notifications and the schools list serve im­proves the reach, he said. “People are used to getting information at their fingertips,” Pilla said. “They want to know quickly as possible what is going on.”

During Sandy, it was practically all that the county’s Costello did. She said anything that came into her email inbox or by phone was quickly sent back out via a tweet.

“Anything coming into the communications office, I was thinking how I could put it out on Twitter in 140 characters,” she said. “That was it for us during Sandy.”

County Executive Astorino tweeted a few hundred times before, during and after the hurricane. By comparison, Astorino sent out only 67 tweets during Tropical Storm Irene.

As for the county executive’s Twitter page, Costello said he does do some of his own tweeting. However, during Sandy, she said “he definitely had folks helping him out.”