Social Media and Hurricane Harvey Jeff Lindner Meteorologist Harris County Flood Control District
Harvey: The Numbers Regional JIC activated Aug. 22-Sept. 15 • 42 JIC Staff; 11 HCSO Deputies • 698 Media Inquiries • 650 Media Interviews • 259 News Releases • 25 News Conferences • 45 Harris County Alerts • 2,418 Social Media Posts • 802 Twitter posts (@jefflindner1) • 9 Nextdoor Posts
The Regional Joint Information Center
Social Media and Disasters • Account Control: Who can draft messages Who authorizes messages Who posts messages (agency vs. individual) • Rumor Control • Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Nextdoor • Traditional Media • Text Messages (family, friends, media)
Harvey Threatens
Rumors
The Forecast
Retweets: Trusted Partners
Emergency Situations: Get to the Point
RSS Feeds • NWS Warnings • Automated processes (gages) • Devices with threshold alarms • Dlvrit
Inverness Forest Levee Event Date HWM Harvey 92.1 Allison (01) 86.9 4/18/16 86.9 11/14/98 85.4 10/49 89.8
Inverness Forest Levee
Inverness Forest Evacuation
Inverness Forest Levee Tweet
Answering Public Questions
Misinformation and Rumors
Twitter: DM’s • Can become overwhelming • Which are important • Timely response
HCFCD Actions (Media) Over 275 Interviews Local, national, world media 3 Daily Press Briefings (HCFCD/COE)
Critical Information Grab attention Images Capitalize words
Lessons Learned • Media/social media engagement critical • Social media is powerful…but requires staffing • Social media is always ON • Most people still watch local TV media coverage • Still have to complete the same jobs as we did before social media
Lessons Learned • Words Matter • Read before you post • Not everyone is going to be pleased all the time • Limit discussion in emergency situations • Answer those questions that apply to the most people
Jeff Lindner 713-684-4165 jeff.lindner@hcfcd.org @jefflindner1
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