County Emergency Management Leans on Social Media During the Tornado

In the aftermath of the April 10 tornado that ripped through the City of Hazelwood and the surrounding area, the St. Louis County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) learned to embrace social media.

It posted this message:

“We have been hit by tornado and/or severe thunderstorm damage in Hazelwood, Missouri and possibly other areas. Need help monitoring social media for any damage reports. Primary location is the intersection of Howdershell and Lynn Haven in Hazelwood, MO. Thanks for your help!”

The department said it immediately began searching social media looking for people reporting damage, injuries, outages, or resource needs in the wake of the tornado.

The message went out to the Social Media Collaboration Group, a collection of about 90 public information officers, social media managers, and other social media volunteers from non-profits and government agencies across four states, according to the OEM. It was created in March at the start of severe weather season. 

St Louis County Emergency Management has had a strong Twitter presence as it pertains to breaking information during disaster response, but OEM said social media monitoring can take a large lump of staff time. Being a part of the collaborative freed up local staff to work directly on disaster response. 

Group members forwarded their observations to group leaders, who then delivered reports via email to OEM every 15 minutes.

The social media group also became a way to spread the word about calls for volunteers, available resources and new information for those the storm impacted.

Join Hazelwood Patch for more community news or join us on Facebook and Twitter.