How to step up in the face of disaster | Caitria and Morgan O'Neill | TEDxBoston
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0:14 - 0:17(Video) Newscaster: There's a large path
of destruction here in town. -
0:17 - 0:20... pulling trees from the ground,
shattering windows, -
0:20 - 0:22taking the roofs off of homes ...
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0:23 - 0:25Caitria O'Neill: That was me
-
0:25 - 0:28in front of our house in Monson,
Massachusetts last June. -
0:30 - 0:33After an EF3 tornado ripped
straight through our town -
0:33 - 0:35and took parts of our roof off,
-
0:35 - 0:38I decided to stay in Massachusetts,
-
0:38 - 0:39instead of pursuing the master's program
-
0:39 - 0:42I had moved my boxes
home that afternoon for. -
0:43 - 0:46Morgan O'Neill: So, on June 1,
we weren't disaster experts, -
0:46 - 0:48but on June 3, we started faking it.
-
0:48 - 0:50This experience changed our lives,
-
0:50 - 0:53and now we're trying
to change the experience. -
0:53 - 0:55CO: So, tornadoes
don't happen in Massachusetts, -
0:55 - 0:59and I was cleverly standing in the front
yard when one came over the hill. -
0:59 - 1:02After a lamppost flew by, my family
and I sprinted into the basement. -
1:02 - 1:05Trees were thrown against the house,
the windows exploded. -
1:05 - 1:07When we finally got out the back door,
-
1:07 - 1:09transformers were burning in the street.
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1:10 - 1:11MO: I was here in Boston.
-
1:11 - 1:13I'm a PhD student at MIT,
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1:13 - 1:15and I happen to study atmospheric science.
-
1:15 - 1:17Actually, it gets weirder --
-
1:17 - 1:20I was in the museum of science
at the time the tornado hit, -
1:20 - 1:22playing with the tornado display --
-
1:22 - 1:23(Laughter)
-
1:23 - 1:24so I missed her call.
-
1:24 - 1:28I get a call from Caitria, hear the news,
and start tracking the radar online -
1:28 - 1:32to call the family back when another
supercell was forming in their area. -
1:32 - 1:34I drove home late that night
with batteries and ice. -
1:35 - 1:37We live across the street
from a historic church -
1:37 - 1:40that had lost its very
iconic steeple in the storm. -
1:40 - 1:42It had become a community
gathering place overnight. -
1:42 - 1:45The town hall and the police department
had also suffered direct hits, -
1:45 - 1:49and so people wanting to help
or needing information went to the church. -
1:49 - 1:52CO: We walked to the church because
we heard they had hot meals, -
1:52 - 1:54but when we arrived, we found problems.
-
1:54 - 1:56There were a couple large,
sweaty men with chainsaws -
1:57 - 2:00standing in the center of the church,
but nobody knew where to send them -
2:00 - 2:02because no one knew the extent
of the damage yet. -
2:02 - 2:04As we watched, they became
frustrated and left -
2:04 - 2:06to go find somebody to help on their own.
-
2:06 - 2:09MO: So we started organizing.
Why? It had to be done. -
2:09 - 2:13We found Pastor Bob and offered to give
the response some infrastructure. -
2:13 - 2:16And then, armed with just
two laptops and one air card, -
2:16 - 2:18we built a recovery machine.
-
2:20 - 2:22(Applause)
-
2:22 - 2:25CO: That was a tornado, and everyone's
heading to the church -
2:25 - 2:27to drop things off and volunteer.
-
2:27 - 2:29MO: Everyone's donating clothing.
-
2:29 - 2:31We should inventory
the donations piling up here. -
2:31 - 2:34CO: And we need a hotline.
Can you make a Google Voice number? -
2:34 - 2:37MO: Sure. And we need to tell people
what not to bring. -
2:37 - 2:39I'll make a Facebook account.
Can you print flyers? -
2:39 - 2:42CO: Yeah, but we don't even know
what houses are accepting help. -
2:42 - 2:44We need to canvas and send out volunteers.
-
2:44 - 2:46MO: We need to tell people
what not to bring. -
2:46 - 2:48Hey, there's a news truck. I'll tell them.
-
2:48 - 2:51CO: You got my number off the news?
We don't need more freezers! -
2:51 - 2:55(Together) MO: Insurance won't cover it?
CO: Juice boxes coming in an hour? -
2:56 - 2:57Together: Someone get me Post-its!
-
2:57 - 2:58(Laughter)
-
2:58 - 3:02CO: And then the rest of the community
figured out that we had answers. -
3:02 - 3:06MO: I can donate three water heaters,
but someone needs to come pick them up. -
3:06 - 3:07CO: My car is in my living room!
-
3:07 - 3:10MO: My boyscout troop
would like to rebuild 12 mailboxes. -
3:10 - 3:13CO: My puppy is missing and insurance
doesn't cover chimneys. -
3:13 - 3:16MO: My church group of 50
would like housing and meals for a week -
3:16 - 3:17while we repair properties.
-
3:17 - 3:20CO: You sent me to that place
on Washington Street yesterday, -
3:20 - 3:22and now I'm covered in poison ivy.
-
3:22 - 3:23(Laughter)
-
3:23 - 3:25So this is what filled our days.
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3:25 - 3:27We had to learn
how to answer questions quickly -
3:27 - 3:29and to solve problems in a minute or less;
-
3:29 - 3:32otherwise, something
more urgent would come up, -
3:32 - 3:33and it wouldn't get done.
-
3:33 - 3:36MO: We didn't get our authority
from the board of selectmen -
3:36 - 3:39or the emergency management
director or the United Way. -
3:39 - 3:41We just started answering questions
and making decisions -
3:41 - 3:44because someone -- anyone -- had to.
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3:44 - 3:46And why not me? I'm a campaign organizer.
-
3:46 - 3:47I'm good at Facebook.
-
3:48 - 3:49And there's two of me.
-
3:49 - 3:50(Laughter)
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3:50 - 3:54CO: The point is, if there's a flood
or a fire or a hurricane, -
3:54 - 3:56you, or somebody like you,
-
3:56 - 3:58are going to step up
and start organizing things. -
3:58 - 4:01The other point is that it is hard.
-
4:01 - 4:03MO: Lying on the ground
after another 17-hour day, -
4:03 - 4:05Caitria and I would empty our pockets
-
4:05 - 4:08and try to place dozens of scraps
of paper into context -- -
4:08 - 4:11all bits of information
that had to be remembered and matched -
4:11 - 4:12in order to help someone.
-
4:12 - 4:14After another day
and a shower at the shelter, -
4:14 - 4:16we realized it shouldn't be this hard.
-
4:17 - 4:19CO: In a country like ours
where we breathe Wi-Fi, -
4:19 - 4:23leveraging technology for a faster
recovery should be a no-brainer. -
4:23 - 4:25Systems like the ones
that we were creating on the fly -
4:26 - 4:27could exist ahead of time.
-
4:27 - 4:30And if some community member
is in this organizing position -
4:30 - 4:33in every area after every disaster,
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4:33 - 4:35these tools should exist.
-
4:35 - 4:37MO: So, we decided to build them:
-
4:37 - 4:41a recovery in a box, something that
could be deployed after every disaster -
4:41 - 4:42by any local organizer.
-
4:43 - 4:46CO: I decided to stay in the country,
give up the master's in Moscow -
4:46 - 4:48and to work full-time to make this happen.
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4:48 - 4:50In the course of the past year,
-
4:50 - 4:53we've become experts in the field
of community-powered disaster recovery. -
4:53 - 4:56And there are three main problems
that we've observed -
4:56 - 4:57with the way things work currently.
-
4:58 - 4:59MO: The tools.
-
4:59 - 5:03Large aid organizations are exceptional
at bringing massive resources to bear -
5:03 - 5:04after a disaster,
-
5:04 - 5:08but they often fulfill very specific
missions, and then they leave. -
5:08 - 5:12This leaves local residents to deal with
the thousands of spontaneous volunteers, -
5:12 - 5:13thousands of donations,
-
5:13 - 5:15and all with no training and no tools.
-
5:15 - 5:18So they use Post-its or Excel or Facebook.
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5:18 - 5:21But none of these tools allow you
to value high-priority information -
5:21 - 5:24amidst all of the photos and well-wishes.
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5:25 - 5:26CO: The timing.
-
5:26 - 5:29Disaster relief is essentially
a backwards political campaign. -
5:29 - 5:32In a political campaign,
you start with no interest -
5:32 - 5:34and no capacity to turn that into action.
-
5:34 - 5:35You build both gradually,
-
5:35 - 5:38until a moment of peak mobilization
at the time of the election. -
5:38 - 5:41In a disaster, however,
you start with all of the interest -
5:41 - 5:43and none of the capacity.
-
5:43 - 5:45And you've only got about seven days
-
5:45 - 5:48to capture 50 percent of all
of the Web searches that will ever be made -
5:48 - 5:50to help your area.
-
5:50 - 5:51Then some sporting event happens,
-
5:51 - 5:54and you've got only the resources
that you've collected thus far -
5:54 - 5:57to meet the next five years
of recovery needs. -
5:57 - 6:00This is the slide for Katrina.
-
6:00 - 6:02This is the curve for Joplin.
-
6:03 - 6:05And this is the curve
for the Dallas tornadoes in April, -
6:05 - 6:07where we deployed software.
-
6:07 - 6:08There's a gap here.
-
6:09 - 6:12Affected households have to wait
for the insurance adjuster to visit -
6:12 - 6:15before they can start accepting help
on their properties. -
6:15 - 6:18And you've only got about four days
of interest in Dallas. -
6:19 - 6:20MO: Data.
-
6:20 - 6:22Data is inherently unsexy,
-
6:22 - 6:24but it can jump-start an area's recovery.
-
6:24 - 6:27FEMA and the state will pay
85 percent of the cost -
6:27 - 6:29of a federally-declared disaster,
-
6:29 - 6:32leaving the town to pay
the last 15 percent of the bill. -
6:32 - 6:33Now that expense can be huge,
-
6:33 - 6:37but if the town can mobilize X amount
of volunteers for Y hours, -
6:37 - 6:42the dollar value of that labor used
goes toward the town's contribution. -
6:42 - 6:43But who knows that?
-
6:44 - 6:46Now try to imagine
the sinking feeling you get -
6:46 - 6:50when you've just sent out 2,000 volunteers
and you can't prove it. -
6:51 - 6:53CO: These are three problems
with a common solution. -
6:53 - 6:56If we can get the right tools
at the right time -
6:56 - 6:58to the people who will inevitably step up
-
6:58 - 7:00and start putting
their communities back together, -
7:01 - 7:03we can create new standards
in disaster recovery. -
7:03 - 7:06MO: We needed canvasing tools,
donations databasing, -
7:06 - 7:09needs reporting, remote volunteer access,
-
7:09 - 7:11all in an easy-to-use website.
-
7:11 - 7:13CO: And we needed help.
-
7:13 - 7:16Alvin, our software engineer
and co-founder, has built these tools. -
7:16 - 7:20Chris and Bill have volunteered their time
to use operations and partnerships. -
7:20 - 7:23And we've been flying into disaster areas
since this past January, -
7:23 - 7:26setting up software, training residents
-
7:26 - 7:30and licensing the software to areas
that are preparing for disasters. -
7:30 - 7:33MO: One of our first launches
was after the Dallas tornadoes -
7:33 - 7:34this past April.
-
7:34 - 7:37We flew into a town
that had a static, outdated website -
7:37 - 7:40and a frenetic Facebook feed,
trying to structure the response, -
7:40 - 7:41and we launched our platform.
-
7:41 - 7:43All of the interest came
in the first four days, -
7:43 - 7:45but by the time they lost the news cycle,
-
7:45 - 7:47that's when the needs came in,
-
7:47 - 7:50yet they had this massive resource
of what people were able to give -
7:50 - 7:53and they've been able to meet
the needs of their residents. -
7:53 - 7:55CO: So it's working,
but it could be better. -
7:55 - 7:58Emergency preparedness is a big deal
in disaster recovery -
7:58 - 8:01because it makes towns safer
and more resilient. -
8:01 - 8:04Imagine if we could have
these systems ready to go in a place -
8:04 - 8:05before a disaster.
-
8:06 - 8:07So that's what we're working on.
-
8:08 - 8:11We're working on getting the software
to places so people expect it, -
8:11 - 8:12so people know how to use it
-
8:12 - 8:14and so it can be filled ahead of time
-
8:14 - 8:16with that micro-information
that drives recovery. -
8:16 - 8:18MO: It's not rocket science.
-
8:18 - 8:20These tools are obvious
and people want them. -
8:20 - 8:23In our hometown,
we trained a half-dozen residents -
8:23 - 8:25to run these Web tools on their own,
-
8:25 - 8:27because Caitria and I
live here, in Boston. -
8:27 - 8:30They took to it immediately,
and now they are forces of nature. -
8:30 - 8:33There are over three volunteer groups
working almost every day, -
8:33 - 8:35and have been since June 1 of last year,
-
8:35 - 8:38to make sure these residents get what
they need and get back in their homes. -
8:38 - 8:41They have hotlines
and spreadsheets and data. -
8:41 - 8:43CO: And that makes a difference.
-
8:43 - 8:47June 1 this year marked the one-year
anniversary of the Monson tornado, -
8:47 - 8:50and our community's never been
more connected or more empowered. -
8:50 - 8:54We've been able to see the same
transformation in Texas and in Alabama. -
8:54 - 8:56Because it doesn't take Harvard or MIT
-
8:56 - 8:58to fly in and fix problems
after a disaster; -
8:58 - 9:00it takes a local.
-
9:00 - 9:02No matter how good an aid organization
is at what they do, -
9:03 - 9:04they eventually have to go home.
-
9:04 - 9:06But if you give locals the tools,
-
9:06 - 9:09if you show them
what they can do to recover, -
9:09 - 9:11they become experts.
-
9:11 - 9:18(Applause)
- Title:
- How to step up in the face of disaster | Caitria and Morgan O'Neill | TEDxBoston
- Description:
-
After a natural disaster strikes, there’s only a tiny window of opportunity to rally effective recovery efforts before the world turns their attention elsewhere. Who should be in charge? When a freak tornado hit their hometown, sisters Caitria and Morgan O’Neill -- just 20 and 24 at the time -- took the reins and are now teaching others how to do the same.
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. - Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 09:28
TED Translators admin
The English transcript was updated on 2/3/2017