Foreword
This website was set up in a hurry by volunteers from http://www.adct.org.tw to counter the information dilemma when major disasters happen. Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan on August 7 and for 4 days it has already set the rainfall record in more than 50 years of time, causing catastrophic damages to southern part of Taiwan. The major goal of this website is to collect information from twitter.com and plurk.com, parse it through human checks, and deliver it the the needed. At the mean time, we have volunteers situated in various emergency centers in local county government, thus making sure that all information is able to get through the rescue teams.
Morakot Experience Online: What We Are Doing
As many of you have already noticed, Taiwan has suffered severe damages from Typhoon Morakot. Downpour and gale have triggered floods and calamity in southern and eastern parts of Taiwan. International media all quote it as “the worst floods in 50 years”. Hundreds of people are missing. Dozens of remote villages are isolated due to mudflows and landslides. Rescue operations continue…
Late night on August 8th, it is supposed to be Father’s Day in Taiwan, but I see the floods in southern parts of Taiwan are already outrageous because of Typhoon Morakot. No one is really in the mood for celebration. We in the Association of Digital Culture Taiwan want to do something with our online skills. Although we have noticed lots of information and tweets on Twitter and Plurk, it’s mixed with right and wrong messages. The situation is confusing.
I call my colleagues, gather them on Skype, and try to find out if we can build a info portal with all tools and communities familiar and available. We discuss and decide what we can and should do in a few hours. It is fortunate that our colleagues are used to remote works, so the website is constructed within two hours.
Moreover, our branch in the southern part of Taiwan is located right next to the local government. The close geographical location also translates into human connections. They provide some assistance in the local Disaster Management Center, and get more official updates in the Center.
So far a few pages are built by us and our friends. It’s mostly in Chinese to serve local readers and audience.
Morakot Online Disaster Report Center: The site is built by @oobe, @wenli, @blake0816, @gimiwu and @qweaz. It aggregates detailed information and all major sources online. http://typhoon.adct.org.tw/
Mudslide Warning Map: This Google Map is based on government public information. http://typhoon.adct.org.tw/floodwarning/
Highway Disaster Info: It’s also built on public information, thanks to @scheeinfo. http://typhoon.adct.org.tw/road/
Our friend @gene writes a program to monitor messages about typhoon Morakot on Plurk. So far thousands of messages are poured into the thread.
As more information is spread, we barely have any time to sleep. We also need everyone’s help to verify the info online. Hopefully we will try to gather more authorized info as soon as possible.
Some people suggest nothing is more effective than to go disaster areas directly. I have some different thoughts. It is necessary to spread information online, as it can not only calm people down, but also identify where and how much resources are needed. As long as those victims can still maintain internet access while trapped at their rooftops, it is crucial to build this communication tool for them. While military operation and rescue is still going on, alternative networks are crucial to provide help.
Thanks for all information provided by people around Taiwan. Please don’t hesitate to send us any requests or resources. We need them for Taiwan.
Please contact Mr.Leonard Chen (romleonard @ gmail.com) for more information, thank you.
mustapha kamal 10:26 on 八月 16, 2009 Permalink |
mustapha here again,i remember the tv series where dogs were used to locate victims of any rubbles underneath buildings.i did not see them here in the disater efforts.humans poking through the ground or searching underneath drifted woods are seen on the river plains or mud plains. i would recommend that dogs be used for effective search of the dead or even maybe a miracle survivor still just like in some great earthquakes there are still survivors after weeks of buried alive. also d government should quickly build emergency housing for the survivors so that they can carry on with their lives even though they have lost their loved ones. this should be in an area safe and also able to cater the economical and social needs of the various people and communities.another issue is that after a long period, human tends to have instability of phsychology, so d government need to send to all d disaster relief camps to console and comfort the survivors in dealing with this tragedy.pshychiatrist and mental consultants are needed now to help them release their fears and sorrows.u will noticed that hysteria and nervous breakdown can be seen on the tv screen so clearly. what i am trying tio say is that Taiwan has got all the money in the world and now is the time to provide the people the required infrastructure and needs , URGENTLY and SAFELY!
mustapha kamal 20:42 on 八月 13, 2009 Permalink |
from my observation thru television after many days after the typhon
disaster, your ministers and president did not give disaster relief
money to the affected families as gift to reduce the burden and agony of loss of loved ones during this typhoon.your president and his wife
have gone to many places but did not hand out any government
money as starter for the family because they have lost everything.
imagine they are wearing the clothes that they left the home since last
friday.and soon school will reopen, so the children are without any
proper clothings.i know the government will give compensation in
due time but it will take time and will only be given on merit basis
after assessments through photographs taken.so i would recommend
that some money like the ones you gave during the economic
downturn or crisis say NTD 3,600 for each person.it will help to bring smiles and cheer to all the stress and strain to the families.
凱恩 21:09 on 八月 12, 2009 Permalink |
連結進去捐款網頁後，依然是中文字頁面，不曉得能不能請adct幫忙做出英文版介面說明呢?? 或者是以paypal作救災捐款戶，不然國外的校友都沒辦法順利捐款，實在很苦惱
Schee 22:46 on 八月 12, 2009 Permalink |
We will try to communicate with relevant government offices. Thank you all for the suggestion.
Eileen Lu 15:00 on 八月 12, 2009 Permalink |
Hi Patrick,
If you wish to donate directly from outside of Taiwan, please check the following links.
一、線上信用卡
1.中華民國紅十字會莫拉克風災急難救助方案 (透過yahoo網路公益捐款網站)
http://tw.charity.yahoo.com/project_donation.html?project_id=179
2.台灣世界展望會
http://i-payment.worldvision.org.tw/offering.php?op=offeringitem&orgid=87
3.佛教慈濟慈善事業基金會
http://tinyurl.com/lz2jr6
Please also pass this messages to other Taiwanese people who live abroad. Thank you for all of your help. No matter you are inside or outside of Taiwan, thank you.
Julia 14:16 on 八月 12, 2009 Permalink |
We’ve set up an English language blog for the Democratic Progressive Party’s disaster relief fund. You can make a donation in U.S. dollars to an account in the United States, which will then be sent back to Taiwan.
SC 07:35 on 八月 12, 2009 Permalink |
台灣的版主們有空是否可以討論如何統籌利用Paypal 或是類似的機制來接受donation嗎? 如果可能最好能夠與台灣paypal討論如何waive its service’s surcharge. Yahoo!奇摩或其他的網上服務有沒有類似的機制?
patrick 23:39 on 八月 11, 2009 Permalink |
Is it possible for someone outside Taiwan to donate directly to the efforts, rather than just to the red cross disaster fund? Also, is there a way for those inside Taiwan to donate using a credit card from outside Taiwan?