NEW LONDON, Conn. — U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets are creating maps showing the locations of people in Texas who posted on social media that they needed help during Hurricane Harvey.
"We're helping to comb social media right now in case somebody posts a distress call or some sort," Cadet Evan Twarog, of Keene, New Hampshire, told Boston 25 News.
The reports show the latitude and longitude of where the posts originated.
Cadet Twarog goes through the data.
"We live in the 21st century and people are going to post to social media. we're working with a bunch of social media analysts to get that information into the hands of people who can use it to connect rescue operations," Cadet Twarog told Boston 25 News.
On @boston25 at 10: 2 local Coast Guard Academy cadets are using social media to help rescuers find those in need following #HurricaneHarvey pic.twitter.com/fRP3BOQKwM
— Mike Saccone (@mikesacconetv) September 1, 2017
Cadet Gabrielle Auzenbergs, of Shrewsbury, maps it.
"Evan collects the data and I just make it in a display that everyone can understand," said Cadet Auzenbergs.
Coast Guard search and rescue coordinators in New Orleans have told the cadets to keep sending the information.
A rescue coordinator told the cadets the reports could be especially valuable in a few days when cellphones are dying.
The academy in New London, Connecticut, says it's the first time the Coast Guard has used intelligence derived from crowd-sourced social media for disaster response.
The cadets have sent three reports a day since Sunday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
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