Funded by National Science Foundation<\/a> grants totaling nearly $650k, Meyer is studying the evolution of these volunteer groups after disasters, how they use social media and technology to coordinate efforts and how communities can best harness philanthropic resources to help long-term, post-disaster recovery.<\/p>\n The eight volunteer rescue organizations Meyer and colleagues at LSU are studying are often referred to as the Cajun Navy and assumed to be one organization. This movement of many groups include volunteers that sprang into action after Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey to rescue thousands of people from flooding using their personal boats and, later, social media apps to organize rescue attempts.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople who have boats have always gone out and rescued their neighbors,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the 2016 Louisiana floods marked one of the first times people were posting their addresses on social media asking for help. Hurricane Harvey was similar.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyer said it\u2019s possible that these organizations, which disaster scholars call \u201cemergent groups,\u201d traditionally disbanded after disasters passed, but continue to exist now because of social media.<\/p>\n After Harvey, some of these rescue groups created formal nonprofit structures, trained members in emergency management systems, continued to aid in community needs, and coordinated their efforts using social media and various new apps.<\/p>\n \u201cThey use Slack, Zello (a walkie talkie app), Microsoft Teams, all these different apps. Some are building their own apps or helping startup rescue groups test theirs,\u201d Meyer said. “Smartphones now allow for better real-time geolocation of people who are in a need and those who can help. You can track team members\u2019 locations, which in a rescue situation is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeveral of these organizations are responding to COVID-19 by making masks and delivering food,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Meyer, who is helping with dispatching herself, says hazard research is very hands-on compared to traditional academia. All the research done has an immediate turnaround to help people in society.<\/p>\n \u201cThe original impetus of disaster social science is applied,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what drew me to our center, that it\u2019s part of our goal to have an impact. And it isn\u2019t just 10% or a fraction of what we do, it\u2019s a core piece. When we think of research, we immediately consider how it will be applied.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas A&M researchers also use their expertise to help communities\u2019 disaster planning.<\/p>\n Fellow Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center researchers Doug Wunneburger, associate professor of urban planning, and Jaimie Masterson, associate head of Texas Target Communities<\/a>, mapped several Texas counties\u2019 community organization and COVID-19 needs in the Texas Coastal Communities Planning Atlas<\/a>, an online, interactive map with flood, wind, and surge zones, evacuation routes, population location, and more that communities use for hazard planning.<\/p>\n \u201cJaimie informed us of a community need to locate pockets of quarantined elderly people who might be struggling to get food because they don\u2019t live close to a grocery store,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cUsing our mapping resources, Wunneburger and Masterson added data to the Coastal Atlas, pinpointing some neighborhoods in counties north of Dallas where there may be more elderly who are in need of services, so organizations can dispatch help to those specific areas.”<\/p>\n Wunneburger, a GIS expert who has contributed his knowledge to Texas A&M for over 30 years, mapped elderly and other vulnerable populations that frequently use food banks, and identified low and moderate income areas, which Meyer says is vital for identifying immediate needs as well as informing policy and getting grants from the federal government to support community needs.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of our efforts is helping with hazard mitigation planning, which is hazard planning that happens before a disaster to prevent negative impacts, like improving ditches to decrease flooding,\u201d said Meyer. \u201cCommunities can get funding for this, but they have to show they are using the money for those in need.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyer said a ditch system will affect a lot of neighborhoods, but by mapping out the percentage of low to moderate income population in the benefit area of the project, they can more easily find funding.<\/p>\n \u201cScholars have found that lower- income individuals are the most impacted and have the worst time recovering from disasters,\u201d she said. \u201cAffordable housing is in more hazardous areas. Minorities were historically segregated into more hazardous areas and communities have not invested in risk reduction in those neighborhoods as they have in wealthy, whiter neighborhoods. If we target limited funding to promote equity for vulnerable populations, it makes the whole community more resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyer has also begun a first-of-its- kind study of the effectiveness of private aid groups\u2019 in long-term, post- disaster housing recovery.<\/p>\n Natural disasters are increasing in size and frequency, and disaster-related housing recovery costs are on the rise, said Meyer. Because government assistance and private insurance often are inadequate to ensure full recovery for all affected people, private philanthropic resources, if used effectively and efficiently, may also help disaster survivors.<\/p>\n However, philanthropic response to disaster is understudied, said Meyer. \u201cLittle is known about what makes these organizations\u2019 operations more or less effective in promoting community recovery and resilience. This will be the first investigation of its kind.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyer\u2019s project will include the development and analysis of a new dataset of nonprofit disaster housing recovery operations using data from recent disasters.<\/p>\n After her research is finished, Meyer will test a training program for local nonprofit organizations and foundations aimed at improving their disaster recovery operations.<\/p>\n The program will be developed as part of the study with the Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy at Texas A&M\u2019s Bush School of Government and Public Service and the OneStar Foundation.<\/p>\n Meyer\u2019s research team includes postdoc Carlee Purdum, graduate students Joy Semien, Mason Alexander, and Kyle Breen (LSU), undergraduate research assistants Romel Fernandez, Jackson Pierce, Arthur Chambers, Nathan Young, Haley Yelle, and Abigail Bowers (LSU), and researchers Brant Mitchell and Stuart Nolan from the Stephenson Disaster Management Institute at LSU.<\/p>\n For more information, contact rnira@arch.tamu.edu<\/a> or doswald@tamu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Michelle Meyer, the director of the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, is studying the emergence of volunteer participation in disaster rescue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":6569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[61,63,103],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Michelle](\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-30-at-3.48.48-PM.jpg\")
Responding to the Pandemic<\/h2>\n
Using GIS and the Texas Atlas<\/h2>\n
Preventing Future Disasters by Empowering Low Income Populations<\/h2>\n
Long Term, Post-Disaster Housing Solutions<\/h2>\n