The document discusses the Antwerp Fire Service's use of social media before, during, and after a large storm in June 2014 that impacted Antwerp, Belgium. The fire service monitored social media to gather information on the storm's impacts in other areas before it hit Antwerp. During the storm, they used social media to assess damage reports and the situation, and call for information from the public. After the storm, they used social media to report on their response workflow, damage impacts, and answer frequently asked questions. The fire service sees opportunities to improve future social media use including automatically gathering and enriching information and developing supporting software and tools.

1. Case study
The use of social media before, during and
after a large storm in Antwerp (june 2014)
Bert Brugghemans – Antwerp Fire Service
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2. Introduction
• Antwerp Fire Service
– Mid Size European City + Large Port
• 615.000 inhabitants (Fire Service Region)
• 2nd largest port area in Europe
• 5th largest petrochemical cluster in the world
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3. Introduction
The city The port
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4. • Antwerp Fire Service: floods
– Large parts below sea level – lots of water
management capabilities
• Floods late 90’s and early 2000 -> big infrastructural
works to deal with flood risk
• Now mainly floods due to heavy storms and tidal water
• Long term risk = water level (Schelde = tidal river) +
frequency and intensity of storms (+165%!)
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5. Waiting times problem
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6. Storm in Flandres
• Heavy storms were hitting Flanders in the
weekend of 7-8-9 june
• First strike in West-Flanders (7 june)
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9. Situation
• Second strike in Brussels: heavy hail during
soccer match on june 7th
• http://youtu.be/2I3lEkm5fhM
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11. Situation
• Third strike was East Flanders + Antwerp
– Very much lightning strikes (+5000)
– Heavy winds (+ 100km/h)
– Rain (+45mm)
– Hail (+5cm)
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12. Lightning
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13. Situation: wind gusts
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14. Situation: rain
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15. Situation: hail
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16. BEFORE
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17. Before the storm: CI
• Followed impact of storm in West Flanders
7/6 morning
• Followed impact of storm in Brussels 7/6
evening
• Followed impact of storm in night 8/6 night
• Combined with Meteo data!
– Fire Service procedure: code yellow = close
monitoring = also social media
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18. Before the storm: COM
• Throughout the weekend:
– Communication via social media
• Twitter
• Facebook (including ads)
– Communication via regular communication
– Fire Service procedure: Meteo code yellow = start
communication!
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20. DURING
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21. During the storm: CI
• Impact analysis
• Damage reports
• Situation assessment
• Call for information
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25. Glass dome of
historic building
destroyed
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29. During the storm: COM
• Call for information
• Guiding people to the right phone
number/website (eform)
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34. AFTER
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35. After the storm: CI
• Example: cooperation with the meteo services
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37. Foto’s hagels voor onderzoek KMI
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38. After the storm: COM
• Reporting on workflow
• Reporting on waiting times
• Reporting on impact
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39. FAQ
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40. Communication about process
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41. Waiting times sensemaking
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45. AND NEXT: some ideas about social
media use in the future
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46. And next?
• Automatic gathering of information -> coosto
• Automatic enrichment of information
• Supporting software
– Monitoring screens
– Reports
• More crowdsourced information
• Improved workflow communication
• Teaming up with crowdsourced initiatives (example
damage reports, weather for- and nowcasting, ... )
• Using FAQ’s, Liveblogs, ... -> o get more dynamic
communication (need for fast formal decision making)
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50. Questions
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