As I was watching my Facebook feed tonight about the tornado, someone shared a status update from the “Moore Oklahoma Tornado Recovery” page. My first thought was “Is this a new page – just from today?”
As a matter of fact – it is. The page was started 7 hours prior to me writing this and already has over 23,000 fans. That’s amazing.
And as amazing as those numbers are – it’s the content being shared on this page that really makes you stop and think about how important social media can be during times of natural disasters and other emergencies.
This page lists open shelters, items needed for donations, status updates of children at hospitals trying to be reunited with their parents, and listings of lost animals or people who need help.
I don’t know who decided to put this page up – but thank goodness they did – because it is a central location that people can go to help each other.
We witnessed the same thing after the Boston Marathon bombings – when Google launched their people finder and everyone was tweeting links to it.
Social Media can be an incredible resource in times like these.
If you know anyone affected by the tornadoes in Moore, OK (whether residents there or family members far away) – give them the link to this page. Maybe it can help them reconnect with a family member.