Typhoon Hagupit: UN using crowdsourcing platform to help assess damage

At least 27 people have been killed and a million people evacuated after Typhoon Hagupit (locally known as Ruby) made landfall in the Philippines on Saturday night. Though Hagupit appears to be weakening as it approaches the Philippines capital, Manila, it’s thought to have destroyed around 80% of all the homes along some coastal areas.

Like Typhoon Haiyan, last year, technology is again being used to help identify damage and needs assessment on the ground. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Manila has requested support from crowdsourcing platform, MicroMappers; asking people to get involved in the disaster response by identifying tweets that refer to urgent needs, infrastructure damage and humanitarian aid. People have also been asked by the UN to identify pictures posted on Twitter that show disaster damage.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/09/typhoon-hagupit-un-using-crowdsourcing-platorm-to-help-assess-damage