SLIDE 1
Social Media and Hurricane Harvey
Jeff Lindner
Meteorologist Harris County Flood Control District
SLIDE 2 Regional JIC activated Aug. 22-Sept. 15
- 42 JIC Staff; 11 HCSO Deputies
- 698 Media Inquiries
- 650 Media Interviews
- 259 News Releases
- 25 News Conferences
- 45 Harris County Alerts
- 2,418 Social Media Posts
- 802 Twitter posts (@jefflindner1)
- 9 Nextdoor Posts
Harvey: The Numbers
SLIDE 3
The Regional Joint Information Center
SLIDE 4 Social Media and Disasters
Who can draft messages Who authorizes messages Who posts messages (agency vs. individual)
- Rumor Control
- Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Nextdoor
- Traditional Media
- Text Messages (family, friends, media)
SLIDE 5
Harvey Threatens
SLIDE 6
Rumors
SLIDE 7
The Forecast
SLIDE 8
Retweets: Trusted Partners
SLIDE 9
Emergency Situations: Get to the Point
SLIDE 10 RSS Feeds
processes (gages)
threshold alarms
SLIDE 11 Inverness Forest Levee
Event Date HWM Harvey 92.1 Allison (01) 86.9 4/18/16 86.9 11/14/98 85.4 10/49 89.8
SLIDE 12
Inverness Forest Levee
SLIDE 13
Inverness Forest Evacuation
SLIDE 14
Inverness Forest Levee Tweet
SLIDE 15
Answering Public Questions
SLIDE 16
Misinformation and Rumors
SLIDE 17 Twitter: DM’s
- Can become
- verwhelming
- Which are
important
SLIDE 18
HCFCD Actions (Media)
Over 275 Interviews Local, national, world media 3 Daily Press Briefings (HCFCD/COE)
SLIDE 19
Critical Information
Grab attention Images Capitalize words
SLIDE 20 Lessons Learned
- Media/social media engagement critical
- Social media is powerful…but requires
staffing
- Social media is always ON
- Most people still watch local TV media
coverage
- Still have to complete the same jobs as we
did before social media
SLIDE 21 Lessons Learned
- Words Matter
- Read before you post
- Not everyone is going to be pleased all
the time
- Limit discussion in emergency situations
- Answer those questions that apply to the
most people
SLIDE 22
Jeff Lindner 713-684-4165 jeff.lindner@hcfcd.org @jefflindner1
