We are a group of civic developers committed to supporting Hurricane victims for relief & recovery who have helped with the software development and data analysis of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma primarily in Texas and Florida. In the wake of Hurricane Maria, we want to help Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the same way. Devastation has already occurred in Puerto Rico and the USVI, and we’re here to help in the response and recovery pending from Maria.
But, we won’t jump in without your permission. These places have a long history of imperialism, and we refuse to add tech colonialism on top of that.
Here’s how we might be able to help:
Rescue
Sometimes emergency services are overloaded fielding calls and deploying assistance. Remote grassroots groups help take in additional requests through social media and apps like Zello and then help to dispatch local people who are offering to perform rescue services (like the Cajun Navy in Houston after Hurricane Harvey).
Shelter updates
As people seek shelter while communication infrastructure remains spotty, having a way to text or call to findt the nearest shelter accepting people becomes useful. We can remotely keep track of what shelters are open and accepting people by calling them and scraping websites, along with extra information such as if they accept pets and if they check identification.
Needs matching
As people settle into shelters or return to their homes, they start needing things like first aid supplies and building materials. Shelter managers or community leaders seek ways to pair those offering material support with those in need of the support. We help with the technology and data related to taking and fulfilling these requests, although we don’t fulfill the requests directly ourselves.
If you are interested in this, please let us know by emailing me (willow dot bl00 at gmail) or finding us on Twitter at @irmaresponse and @sketchcityhou.
Here are other groups lending aid already (maintained by someone else).
If you’re looking to jump in an an existing task, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team already has a tasker active for helping to map the area for responders and coordination.
.@IrmaResponse & @sketchcityhou want to help PR & USVI w #maria… but we won’t jump in unless asked. Please RT. https://t.co/1yOqqfBa7j
An Open Letter From Civic Hackers to Puerto Rico & USVI in the Wake of Hurricane Maria | willowbl00 https://t.co/gjrlhCwH7h
I have sat comms in Florida…looking for a org that needs them, can transport to PR.
I’ve told you not to contact me until you can show that you’ve been through an abuse recovery program.
Find someone else to coordinate with. There are plenty of folk looking to do good work, some directly referenced here.