Tech, communities and #sandy (part 4)

Continuing my collection of tech-related #sandy relief, rescue, clean up resources. Two earlier posts on tech efforts and one on community foundations.

1) Here's a page of #SandyVolunteer efforts for folks who want to contribute their time or expertise. Here's the read-only page of #hurricanehackers projects - including efforts at partnering with CouchSurfing and SeeClickFix to coordinate shelter and repair efforts. 
 (These are great example of individuals working together to coordinate resources and trying to take some of the pressure off of public systems such as 911) This is an important set of behaviors - the intersections of community actions and public service is what we're seeing here. (not the replacement of one with another)

2) CrisisCommons pointed me to the TweakTheTweet map from the University of Washington's Human Centered Design and Engineering program. It is a layered map, colorcoding tweets about power outages, shelter, needs, offers, blocked roads, etc. etc.

3) Recovers.org is a software toolkit for communities to use to organize responses and relief. Here's what NYC's lower east side put together.

4) Some are noting the "superstorm" of weather systems was mirrored by superstorm of social media - this from @NYMag

"As it unfolded, a different confluence of factors — namely the simultaneous rise and ubiquity of Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, along with the endless churn of the 24-hour news cycle — combined to create another hybrid vortex in which the virtual community experienced the storm both in seclusion and all together. We all watched through our screens first, interacting all the while, and out the window second."

And this from @TechPresident

"While Pandodaily suggested that Sandy could be "Instagram's big citizen journalism moment," the Internet also became a source of unsourced, viral and often misleading images. Last night a Twitter account that was spreading incorrect information about the state of the New York subways and the stock exchange that was then cited by some TV news reports. But towards the end of the night a website emerged that hoped to crowdsource reliable New York transit information."

So #Sandy might be the event in which the social media/tech communities show they can source, sort, and verify information - an important evolution from simply spreading information.

5) Donations to The Red Cross, of both money and blood and FeedingAmerica for food aid and delivery are much needed. Here is some guidance from VolunteerMatch on how to help.

6)  Of three major charity information sites - GuideStar, Charity Navigator, and GiveWell - only GuideStar had storm related donation/help information on its home page (as of 9:20 am PDT, Tuesday October 30th).

7) The twitter feed for @invisiblepeople was a great resource on how to help the homeless during and after the storm.

8) The Red Cross has an app for finding shelter information.