Presentation to the National Cente

1. Crisis mapping for disaster response:
from the Haiti earthquake to Sandy
A presentation by Annie Feighery, EdM, MPA
Candidate, EdD
Teachers College, Columbia University
@AnnieFeighery
annie@mWater.Co

2. The validity of crisis mapping depends on positive
reinforcement mechanisms within the system
The value of crisis mapping as a rapid assessment tool
Diffusion of innovations curve within the UN
regarding crisis mapping
Sandy

3. Background
• January12, 2010: 7.0 magnitude earthquake
west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti
•3 million people affected: 316,000 deaths,
another million left homeless
• Severe infrastructure damage: hospitals,
airport, government and UN buildings
• Watershed moment for crowdsourced
disaster response

5. Source: noula.ht

6. Source: Mission4636

7. click

8. Methods of analysis
• Qualitative interviews: key informants
representing both Ushahidi and multilateral agencies
• Google analytics: geocoding IPs
• Wordle: visual representation of key words and
mood
• Social network analysis: bonding vs bridging vs
linking
• Text mining: parsed database of reports

9. Top hits by country over time (January-April)
Source: Google Analytics (Haiti.Ushahidi.org)

10. n=3600 messages, source: Ushahidi database

12. Geotime graph of all coded SMS messages over time

13. Geotime graph of messages coded collapsed infrastructure
(blue) and food and shelter needs (green) over time

14. Cluster response
PDNA
SMS mapped
messages

15. n=3600 messages, source: Ushahidi database
~40,000 SMS messages originally received

16. Help-seeking Degree of
Ties type
behavior similarity
Informal
Bonding Strong ties forms of Homophilous
support
Formal
Bridging Weak ties forms of Heterophilous
support
Granovetter, M. (1983). The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited. Sociological Theory, 1(1), 201-233.
Lin, N. (2002). Social capital: A theory of social structure and action. Cambridge Univ Pr.

17. a.#Earthquake#
vic0ms#
n=24#
b.#Earthquake# b.#Relief#
vic0m#inside#Hai0# organiza0ons#
n=906# n=875#
c.#Public#outside#of#
Hai0##
n=7#

18. a.#Earthquake#
vic2ms#
n=39#
c.#Relief#Responder# b.#Relief#
from#tradi2onal#NGO# organiza2ons#
n=368# n=310#
c.#Public#outside#of#
Hai2##
n=17#

19. Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. Free Press.

20. Diffusion Curve, adapted from Rogers (2002)

21. Crisis mapping Sandy
• Sense making/situational awareness
• Social network-based information
• Hashtag crisis
• Handheld-friendly tools
• Liability protection
• Tweet studies
• Dave from Hoboken

22. NYC.gov
• Rachel Sterne Haot, CDO
• Twitter donated promoted tweets:
‣ 2k over 2 weeks
• Total social digital reach as of 11/9:
2,785,806
• Corrected bad reports, guided remarks
• Transportation needs dominated convo

23. ANY QUESTIONS?
Annie Feighery
twitter: @AnnieFeighery
www.participatoryepi.posterous.com
www.mWater.Co

24. extra slides

25. SNA Codes
• 3.Topic
of
message
1.
Location
of
sender
a.
Looking
for
missing
person
a.
Within
Haiti
b.
Report
of
individual
needed
medical
b.
Outside
of
Haiti assistance
2.
Type
of
sender c.
Need
for
supplies
a.
General
public
outside
of
Haiti d.
Report
of
infrastructure,
i.e.,
road
damage
b.
Earthquake
victim
inside
Haiti e.
Report
of
available
supplies
c.
Relief
Responder
from
traditional
NGO f.
General
thoughts
or
prayers
offered
4.
Intended
recipient
of
message
d.
Crowdsourced
relief
responder
a.
Earthquake
victims
b.
Relief
organizations
c.
Public
outside
of
Haiti

26. Interview Results
• There was an inability to use the information
gathered to directly interact with the Haitians who
provided it.
• UN and other official entities were reticent to use
the information gathered because: a) they
distrusted the validity of the sources, and b)
they were too overtasked with their traditional
evaluation protocol to subsume additional
monitoring of social media.
• The discord that marked the initial stages of relief in

27. Bonding Bridging
borrow a cup of milk go buy milk at the bodega
ask a neighbor to watch ask a neighbor for the
your child phone number of their
babysitter
apply for Welfare
ask to borrow money
assistance