Rapid assessment of disaster damage using social media activity.

ABSTRACT: Could social media data aid in disaster response and damage assessment? Countries face both an increasing frequency and an increasing intensity of natural disasters resulting from climate change. During such events, citizens turn to social media platforms for disaster-related communication and information. Social media improves situational awareness, facilitates dissemination of emergency information, enables early warning systems, and helps coordinate relief efforts. In addition, the spatiotemporal distribution of disaster-related messages helps with the real-time monitoring and assessment of the disaster itself. We present a multiscale analysis of Twitter activity before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy. We examine the online response of 50 metropolitan areas of the United States and f

SUBMITTER: Kryvasheyeu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4803483 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature