The Social Media of Natural Disasters: The Queensland experience – Anna Bligh

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh made history, on 21 March 2009, when she became the first popularly elected female Premier in Australia. Prior to the election, she served as Queensland Premier from 13 September 2007, following the resignation of Peter Beattie. During early 2011, Queensland faced major tragedies after years of drought with floods and cyclones that wrought havoc, cost lives and damage in the billions of dollars. Reflecting on some of the positives around the human reaction to this devastation in Queensland, Anna Bligh addressed The Sydney Institute on Thursday 21 July 2011

THE SOCIAL MEDIA OF NATURAL DISASTERS – THE QUEENSLAND EXPERIENCE

ANNA BLIGH

It is a pleasure to be here today at The Sydney Institute.

Right now, the biggest story in the world is news itself and no doubt there are many here tonight that are feeling a little bleary-eyed after a late night session with Rupert Murdoch, the UK parliament and a foam pie. The world has been transfixed by this extraordinary story. Journalism is at the centre of a cyclonic global debate about ethics, technology, political influence and allegations of power wielded without responsibility. We’re seeing the best of journalism expose the worst of journalism. None of us are quite certain where all of this will end. What is clear is that smart phones, twitter, YouTube, Facebook, iPads and rolling 24 hour news are changing our daily lives, changing the public life of our nation and changing the way news and media operates.

As we debate the tensions between personal privacy and freedom of the press, and as we consider the changes that social media is making possible, I wanted to share some heart warming experiences of social media and reflect tonight on how this technology can enhance the power of quality journalism.

In Queensland this year, we had a pretty big story to tell. After seven years of drought, cyclones and flood waters wreaked terrible destruction on our state. The entire town of Theodore was evacuated by helicopter. In the Darling Downs, the   town   of   Condamine   had   to be evacuated twice as flood waters rose, then receded, then rose again. From regional centres like Toowoomba, Rockhampton and Bundaberg, to small towns like Grantham, to our largest cities like Ipswich and Brisbane, the floods left a trail of devastation and heartbreak.

Then Cyclone Yasi, a monstrous category 5 cyclone, made landfall in February. It devastated coastal towns like Tully and Cardwell ripping roofs, smashing buildings and affected an area stretching from Ingham to Cairns. Together, these disasters cost us 36 lives and $6.8 billion in damage to roads, railway lines, schools, and other infrastructure. The world knows something of what Queensland endured – this was a pretty compelling story in either old or new media. But there is a largely untold story about how technology and social media helped us communicate, prepare for, endure and recover from these terrible events.

In May 2010, the Queensland Police Service began a trial use of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. One of their aims was to develop an online community of followers before a disaster occurred. They took this prophetic initiative in light of international examples such as the Mumbai terrorist attacks where social media dominated mainstream media coverage but authorities and news organisations were limited in the contribution they could make.

Queensland made legislative changes in November 2010 to make the QPS the lead agency in the response phase of a disaster. By this stage the QPS had 8000 likes on Facebook and 1000 followers on Twitter. Events would mean they were just about to experience a sharp surge in popularity.

Category 1 Tropical Cyclone Tasha struck on Christmas Day, bringing heavy rain to central Queensland, resulting in significant floods. Police Media continued to issue regular media releases to the mainstream media but now also added these media releases to the QPS Facebook page and linked to these on Twitter. Within two weeks their likes on Facebook and followers on Twitter had almost doubled.

Then, on January 10, 2011 disaster struck Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley. An instant inland tsunami caused by freakish levels of rainfall swept through the area. Just days later, significant floods hit Ipswich and Brisbane and by the second week of January, 200,000 Queenslanders were flood affected and three-quarters of the state was disaster declared.

In the 24-hour period following the flash floods in Toowoomba, the number of “likes” on the QPS Facebook page increased from approximately 17,000 to 100,000. This same day, the QPS Facebook page generated 39 million post impressions, equating to 450 post views per second over the peak 24-hour period. Within weeks of the worst of the floods subsiding, Category 1 Tropical Cyclone Anthony struck north Queensland and was followed days later by Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Yasi. These twin cyclones caused yet another spike in use of the QPS social media accounts.

Given the majority of the information the QPS released was factual and in the interests of public safety it could be released immediately and without a clearance process. The team was trusted to use their judgement. There was no directive or policy decision to escalate the use of social media during the disasters. The team instinctively gravitated towards the social media channels because they were clearly the fastest and best way to distribute important public safety information.

Within days, not only were the media relying on the QPS social media accounts as their key source of information but they were actively referring the public to their social media channels.  QPS tweets would appear in national TV networks news tickers and would be read out by radio station announcers within moments of the media team publishing them. This almost instant crossover from “new media’ to “old media” allowed information published by the team to be distributed at a speed and to a sheer number of people not previously possible.

People stranded by the side of the road, or in their homes isolated by floodwaters and without electricity, people hunkered down in their bathrooms under mattresses as cyclones passed over their houses, members of the deaf communities, and people interstate or overseas wanting information on their loved ones. All these people could access detailed, up-to-the-moment information.

Some of the basic services provided by police media during this time included:

• Live video streaming of the Brisbane-based disaster-related media conferences on the QPS Facebook page with the video subsequently posted on the QPS YouTube channel
• Live Tweeting key points as they were made in briefings and in these media conferences
• Uploading dot point summaries of the media conferences to the QPS Facebook page shortly after their conclusion
• Uploading at least daily audio updates to Facebook from local disaster coordinators around the state
• Mythbusting of misinformation and rumours in the media and community
• Tweeting most QPS Facebook posts
• Providing 24/7 moderation of the QPS social media accounts and responding to inquiries from the public where possible

The benefits of this during a difficult and frightening time were numerous.

• It is immediate and useful to proactively push out large volumes of information to large numbers of people ensuring there was no vacuum of official information

• The QPS Facebook page became the trusted, authoritative hub for the dissemination of information and facts for the community and media
• Nothing spreads faster than a rumour during a crisis and the myth buster site meant any rumours and misreporting could be quickly killed before they got any legs as “fact” by being repeated in the mainstream media, mainly through their #mythbuster hash tag on Twitter.
• It provides access to immediate feedback and information from the public at scenes
• The mainstream media embraced it and found it to be a valuable and immediate source of information.

Another example of this very structured use of new technology during a natural disaster is the use of SMS early warning systems which were established nationally after the experience of the Victorian bush fires. Queensland’s disasters were the first major test of this new early warning system which gave the central, state wide Disaster Management Group the ability to communicate directly with people through SMS messaging. It was used 39 times to deliver 37 separate warnings during the floods period and used 48 times to deliver 16 separate warnings during Cyclone Yasi and the aftermath.

Over four million individual text messages were sent reaching millions of Queensland before, during and after these disasters. Local governments now also have a similar capability. Central Highlands Regional Council was just one of our local councils to use the system to great success. The council sent seven SMS messages during the Emerald floods and estimates these reached around 14,000 residents directly. That is more than the entire 11,500 population of Emerald and almost half the entire 30,000 population of the region.

The Mayor tells me he even received thanks from a resident who was visiting in the USA at the time of the disasters and got the text – this enabled him to ring friends, tell them where his spare key was and ask them to move belongings to safety. An important point to remember here is that when people’s power shut down they could still get regular updates on their mobile phones. Queenslanders went to their cars, started their engines and charged their phones during the disasters. It was a way to keep informed. It was a way for them to know that they were not alone.

These are just some examples of the structured and formal use of social media and new technology by government agencies and how it helped us during these natural disasters.

But social media really came into its own was when it was spontaneous, when individuals used it to connect to each other and the world. During and after the disasters there were numerous examples of Twitter and Facebook making connections that informed protected and empowered people. “Baked Relief”, for example, is now an established movement of hundreds of people who baked and cooked for people directly affected by the floods as well as volunteers and emergency workers.

It started with Danielle Crismani who felt she needed to do something during the floods. She understood that the volunteering cleanup effort was hot, hard and hungry work and came up with the idea to start baking some food for those volunteers. Danielle also understood that there were many people who wanted to help in some way and that not everyone was able to work on the end of a shovel in mud and tropical heat.

She put the word out about what she was doing on her blog and on Twitter and Facebook and offers of help and baking came rushing in. Within 48 hours, Danielle was co-ordinating almost 300 people baking their hearts out. On 18 January, #bakedrelief was the number two trending hashtag in Australia with #qldfloods in the number one spot. It has grown beyond imagining since then and Baked Relief is now in the hands of hundreds of home cooks and bakers and is still reaching people who are recovering from the floods and cyclone. They even helped out in Christchurch after this year’s terrible earthquake and the organisation is determined to continue to support families affected by the natural disasters.

We also know that more than 80,000 people formally registered with Volunteering Queensland during the disasters and there is anecdotal evidence that social media again played an important role in mobilising so many people as people mobilised their friends and followers. On a more local level people would tweet that they needed help on their street and within hours they’d have up to 30 members of what we called the “mud army” working with them.

Old media and new media intersected during the floods and cyclones. FM Radio presenter Meshel Laurie who kept many Queenslanders informed of updates through twitter personifies this. Laurie gathered a massive following, as people quickly learnt how well she used her networks to spread information to the public.

Details such as where to buy ice or bread became critical information this January, and Meshel was able to successfully disperse this information to many needy Queenslanders. She was particularly active in assisting pet owners to find animal-friendly evacuation centres during the disasters and recently she was recognised under our Queensland Disaster Heroes program. During these difficult weeks I couldn’t help but be struck by how powerful these networks were and how much connection and comfort they were bringing people.

We so often blame these technologies for reducing our people skills and for making human contact a lost art. There’s no doubt that these disasters brought people together – people who had politely waved to their neighbours for 10 years suddenly found themselves side by side cleaning mud out of their front rooms – there are many stories of new friendships being forged through these shared troubles. Equally there’s no doubt that thousands of these connections were generated and nurtured by social media as people shared frightening experiences often 1000’s of kilometres apart. Many of these groups are still in touch and still sharing information, stories and support as they recover.

Social media also brought celebrity power to our efforts as famous twitter accounts picked up on the issue. Lance Armstrong, who was in Australia for the Tour Downunder, offered to come to Brisbane and hold a Twitter Ride – a fundraising event where cyclists joined Lance for a 20km ride, all disseminated through Twitter. It attracted 10,000 riders with just three days notice, closed down the city for two hours and raised $500,000.

It also gave people direct contact with me as Premier and with their elected representatives. Important questions could be directly answered. I continue to receive messages from many victims of the disasters, looking for more assistance, asking questions or more often than not just sharing news about their rebuilding.

In some respects none of this is surprising or remarkable. We had a very human reaction. We reached out to each other in every way we could. The extraordinary uptake of social media across every age group, every income group and every region points powerfully to the experience of people at that time remembering what’s really important. We witnessed an outpouring of humanity towards our fellow human beings, our neighbours, our friends and our community. I was personally struck by how willing people were during that time to be openly emotional and affectionate. I think events moved so quickly that people just went with their instincts and when it came down to it our collective instinct was simply to look out for each other.

Social media shares that immediacy and this is the real difference between what is sometimes called new and old media. Twitter has no agenda and no interests to promote or protect. It doesn’t need to find an angle because it reports immediately. It lives in the now and it can give expression to emotion in a very tangible way.

What the circumstances did lead to was whole press conferences being broadcast and posted on YouTube rather than just the edited few minutes that are normally broadcast on the evening news. An irony during those days was how journalists, chastised by moments of outrage on Twitter, became less combative in their questions and stopped looking for an angle. There was a feeling that the self appointed watch dog was being watched and this led to more responsible and informative reporting.

Six months down the track, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on the goodwill that these disastrous events generated. Goodwill between friends and strangers, goodwill from fellow Australians everywhere who saw the plight and lent a hand. It’s hard to reconcile that goodwill and generosity with the rancorous nature of the current public debate – especially about climate change and the carbon tax. There seems a real disconnect between our response to these events which I believe was warm, real and genuine. I contrast the community’s ability to listen to each other at that time to the ability of those leading the public debate on these issues today. Humanity is now more connected than it has ever been. During the Queensland disasters we witnessed the technology that connects us make us more human, not less.

If we in this country could capture the tangible sense of community and good will that we shared in this crisis as we tackle global issues such as climate change, I think we could certainly get more done and I know we’d be a stronger nation for it.