Situated in an ecologically sensitive mountainous region, the state of Uttarakhand in northern India has witnessed a four-fold increase in frequency of floods coupled with a loss of more than thousands of livelihoods and over 50,000 acres of forest cover. To prevent such extensive damage to livelihoods and ecosystems, it is imperative to communicate timely predictions and disaster warnings to all communities living there. Through the present study, we examined how social media, especially Facebook and Twitter, played a key role in early warning messages for disasters between 2019 and 2021 in the state. For this purpose, we engaged in gathering and analysing existing disaster warning data from the two chosen social media platforms using aset of predetermined keywords to develop an analysis framework. These helped us analyse the theme of messaging (seeking assistance; offeringassistance; government/factual info) on the social media platforms; types ofimages posted; and effectiveness of the content during the natural hazards in Uttarakhand.Our analysis revealed that the use of Facebook and Twitter by the public increased several folds between 2019 and 2021 for communicating timely updates and issuing alerts regarding the disaster. In addition, the social media platforms were constantly updating and enhancing their ‘Crisis Response’ features, which enabled faster and efficient communication of hazard related information. Therefore, through our study, we reinforce that social media, including several web-based and mobile technologies such as Twitter Earthquake Detection and other SOS tools,play a critical role in all stages of disaster management, especially in middle-income countries such as India, which are experiencing the greatest risk for disasters with each passing year. Furthermore, we suggest that an increase in social media users across the rural-urban spectrum presents a key opportunity for developing countries to make social media technologies an integral part of early warningdisaster systems.
Source: Koduganti, M. 2021. Early Warning Systems in the Digital Age: Investigating the role of social media in disaster communications in Uttarakhand, India. Early Warning systems and climate resilience. AIWW 2021.