Hurricane Harvey destroyed the city of Houston, Texas. It will be one of the costliest disasters in the history of the United States when all is said and done. The lives lost and the massive property damage has made Hurricane Harvey a monumental tragedy. However, modern technology prevented this tragedy from becoming much worse than it otherwise could have been. Social media is everywhere these days. This was a good thing during the height of Hurricane Harvey. This is because many people used their social media accounts to call for help. They trusted friends on Facebook and Twitter to help them more than a stranger when they call 911.
This is the first time that people have used social media so extensively to call for help in the middle of a natural disaster. There is no doubt it will be used in this way again during future disasters. There are people who are already trying to create a more organized method of calling for help on social media. There were a series of hashtags used by people who needed help during Harvey. However, some people are looking into creating a social media version of 911. It remains to be seen if that will happen.
Social media was also used to great effect to show the rest of the world how bad the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey really was. The images of the disaster went viral and were quickly picked up by many of the major news agencies. People who were in the midst of the flooding caused by the hurricane became reporters by using their smartphones to photograph the destruction that surrounded them. This is yet another example of how much modern technology has changed the way that people deal with the challenges they are presented with in everyday life.
There are people who are trying to urge elderly people who live alone to create social media accounts. They can use Facebook or Twitter if they need help in the future. There is no reason for people to die alone with all of the technology that is available to call for help these days. People in Florida have also used social media during Hurricane Irma. However, the calls for help during Irma were not as well organized on social media as they were during Harvey. This is perhaps due to the fact that Irma impacted a much larger region.
Dil Bole Oberoi
