StormShare: A Crowdsourcing Web Application to Enhance Resiliency during Hurricanes
Article
Bao, R, Mittadhoddi, G, Wilson, ML et al. (2026). StormShare: A Crowdsourcing Web Application to Enhance Resiliency during Hurricanes
. NATURAL HAZARDS REVIEW, 27(1), 10.1061/NHREFO.NHENG-2230
Bao, R, Mittadhoddi, G, Wilson, ML et al. (2026). StormShare: A Crowdsourcing Web Application to Enhance Resiliency during Hurricanes
. NATURAL HAZARDS REVIEW, 27(1), 10.1061/NHREFO.NHENG-2230
In advance of an approaching hurricane, residents must prepare and make decisions. Families might need windows boarded up before the storm and fallen trees removed afterward. Those sheltering in place may need additional resources, such as generators, food, potable water, and access to healthcare. Local governments may provide information at a municipality level, but sharing awareness about more proximate hazards may be beyond their capabilities. We developed a web application, StormShare, to assist with these and other needs, contributing to capacity building for social resiliency. Developed with guidance from domain experts, three Florida municipalities, and a focus group, with further refinements recommended by two additional focus groups, StormShare depends on crowdsourcing, whereby users provide information to facilitate cooperation through community involvement. Users can post about where goods can be found, services they are willing to provide, and localized alerts, while other users rely on these posts to make informed decisions. In this paper, we describe StormShare, explore some of the considerations of developing a crowdsourcing application for hurricane preparedness, and offer recommendations for future improvements.
