0:00:03.253,0:00:06.571
(Video) Newscaster: There's a large path[br]of destruction here in town.

0:00:06.595,0:00:09.513
... pulling trees from the ground,[br]shattering windows,

0:00:09.537,0:00:11.306
taking the roofs off of homes ...

0:00:12.377,0:00:14.412
Caitria O'Neill: That was me

0:00:14.436,0:00:17.793
in front of our house in Monson,[br]Massachusetts last June.

0:00:17.817,0:00:21.158
After an EF3 tornado ripped[br]straight through our town

0:00:21.182,0:00:22.661
and took parts of our roof off,

0:00:22.685,0:00:24.730
I decided to stay in Massachusetts,

0:00:24.754,0:00:26.659
instead of pursuing the master's program

0:00:26.683,0:00:29.482
I had moved my boxes[br]home that afternoon for.

0:00:29.906,0:00:32.737
Morgan O'Neill: So, on June 1,[br]we weren't disaster experts,

0:00:32.761,0:00:34.835
but on June 3, we started faking it.

0:00:34.859,0:00:36.865
This experience changed our lives,

0:00:36.889,0:00:39.326
and now we're trying[br]to change the experience.

0:00:39.350,0:00:41.795
CO: So, tornadoes[br]don't happen in Massachusetts,

0:00:41.819,0:00:45.320
and I was cleverly standing in the front[br]yard when one came over the hill.

0:00:45.344,0:00:48.644
After a lamppost flew by, my family[br]and I sprinted into the basement.

0:00:48.668,0:00:51.564
Trees were thrown against the house,[br]the windows exploded.

0:00:51.588,0:00:53.457
When we finally got out the back door,

0:00:53.481,0:00:55.458
transformers were burning in the street.

0:00:55.775,0:00:57.212
MO: I was here in Boston.

0:00:57.236,0:00:58.953
I'm a PhD student at MIT,

0:00:58.977,0:01:01.270
and I happen to study atmospheric science.

0:01:01.683,0:01:03.031
Actually, it gets weirder --

0:01:03.055,0:01:06.349
I was in the museum of science[br]at the time the tornado hit,

0:01:06.373,0:01:08.204
playing with the tornado display --

0:01:08.228,0:01:09.406
(Laughter)

0:01:09.430,0:01:10.581
so I missed her call.

0:01:10.605,0:01:14.349
I get a call from Caitria, hear the news,[br]and start tracking the radar online

0:01:14.373,0:01:17.803
to call the family back when another[br]supercell was forming in their area.

0:01:17.827,0:01:20.268
I drove home late that night[br]with batteries and ice.

0:01:20.292,0:01:22.605
We live across the street[br]from a historic church

0:01:22.629,0:01:25.294
that had lost its very[br]iconic steeple in the storm.

0:01:25.318,0:01:27.783
It had become a community[br]gathering place overnight.

0:01:27.807,0:01:31.111
The town hall and the police department[br]had also suffered direct hits,

0:01:31.135,0:01:34.765
and so people wanting to help[br]or needing information went to the church.

0:01:34.789,0:01:37.824
CO: We walked to the church because[br]we heard they had hot meals,

0:01:37.848,0:01:39.720
but when we arrived, we found problems.

0:01:39.744,0:01:42.189
There were a couple large,[br]sweaty men with chainsaws

0:01:42.213,0:01:45.623
standing in the center of the church,[br]but nobody knew where to send them

0:01:45.647,0:01:47.946
because no one knew the extent[br]of the damage yet.

0:01:47.970,0:01:50.121
As we watched, they became[br]frustrated and left

0:01:50.145,0:01:52.100
to go find somebody to help on their own.

0:01:52.124,0:01:54.783
MO: So we started organizing.[br]Why? It had to be done.

0:01:54.807,0:01:58.250
We found Pastor Bob and offered to give[br]the response some infrastructure.

0:01:58.274,0:02:01.446
And then, armed with just[br]two laptops and one air card,

0:02:01.470,0:02:03.560
we built a recovery machine.

0:02:05.488,0:02:08.082
(Applause)

0:02:08.106,0:02:11.114
CO: That was a tornado, and everyone's[br]heading to the church

0:02:11.138,0:02:12.804
to drop things off and volunteer.

0:02:12.828,0:02:14.408
MO: Everyone's donating clothing.

0:02:14.432,0:02:16.826
We should inventory[br]the donations piling up here.

0:02:16.850,0:02:19.787
CO: And we need a hotline.[br]Can you make a Google Voice number?

0:02:19.811,0:02:22.393
MO: Sure. And we need to tell people[br]what not to bring.

0:02:22.417,0:02:24.830
I'll make a Facebook account.[br]Can you print flyers?

0:02:24.854,0:02:27.910
CO: Yeah, but we don't even know[br]what houses are accepting help.

0:02:27.934,0:02:29.939
We need to canvas and send out volunteers.

0:02:29.963,0:02:32.076
MO: We need to tell people[br]what not to bring.

0:02:32.100,0:02:34.104
Hey, there's a news truck. I'll tell them.

0:02:34.128,0:02:37.152
CO: You got my number off the news?[br]We don't need more freezers!

0:02:37.176,0:02:41.180
(Together) MO: Insurance won't cover it?[br]CO: Juice boxes coming in an hour?

0:02:41.204,0:02:42.828
Together: Someone get me Post-its!

0:02:42.852,0:02:43.853
(Laughter)

0:02:43.877,0:02:47.554
CO: And then the rest of the community[br]figured out that we had answers.

0:02:47.578,0:02:51.219
MO: I can donate three water heaters,[br]but someone needs to come pick them up.

0:02:51.243,0:02:52.790
CO: My car is in my living room!

0:02:52.814,0:02:55.639
MO: My boyscout troop[br]would like to rebuild 12 mailboxes.

0:02:55.663,0:02:58.533
CO: My puppy is missing and insurance[br]doesn't cover chimneys.

0:02:58.557,0:03:01.620
MO: My church group of 50[br]would like housing and meals for a week

0:03:01.644,0:03:02.974
while we repair properties.

0:03:02.998,0:03:05.911
CO: You sent me to that place[br]on Washington Street yesterday,

0:03:05.935,0:03:07.589
and now I'm covered in poison ivy.

0:03:07.613,0:03:08.712
(Laughter)

0:03:08.736,0:03:10.502
So this is what filled our days.

0:03:10.526,0:03:12.740
We had to learn[br]how to answer questions quickly

0:03:12.764,0:03:15.014
and to solve problems in a minute or less;

0:03:15.038,0:03:17.238
otherwise, something[br]more urgent would come up,

0:03:17.262,0:03:18.596
and it wouldn't get done.

0:03:18.620,0:03:21.427
MO: We didn't get our authority[br]from the board of selectmen

0:03:21.451,0:03:24.307
or the emergency management[br]director or the United Way.

0:03:24.331,0:03:26.957
We just started answering questions[br]and making decisions

0:03:26.981,0:03:29.616
because someone -- anyone -- had to.

0:03:29.640,0:03:31.995
And why not me? I'm a campaign organizer.

0:03:32.019,0:03:33.187
I'm good at Facebook.

0:03:33.211,0:03:34.489
And there's two of me.

0:03:34.513,0:03:36.059
(Laughter)

0:03:36.083,0:03:39.611
CO: The point is, if there's a flood[br]or a fire or a hurricane,

0:03:39.635,0:03:41.396
you, or somebody like you,

0:03:41.420,0:03:44.031
are going to step up[br]and start organizing things.

0:03:44.055,0:03:46.332
The other point is that it is hard.

0:03:46.356,0:03:49.047
MO: Lying on the ground[br]after another 17-hour day,

0:03:49.071,0:03:50.878
Caitria and I would empty our pockets

0:03:50.902,0:03:53.666
and try to place dozens of scraps[br]of paper into context --

0:03:53.690,0:03:56.556
all bits of information[br]that had to be remembered and matched

0:03:56.580,0:03:57.808
in order to help someone.

0:03:57.832,0:03:59.991
After another day[br]and a shower at the shelter,

0:04:00.015,0:04:02.188
we realized it shouldn't be this hard.

0:04:02.212,0:04:05.057
CO: In a country like ours[br]where we breathe Wi-Fi,

0:04:05.081,0:04:08.612
leveraging technology for a faster[br]recovery should be a no-brainer.

0:04:08.636,0:04:11.180
Systems like the ones[br]that we were creating on the fly

0:04:11.204,0:04:12.497
could exist ahead of time.

0:04:12.521,0:04:16.050
And if some community member[br]is in this organizing position

0:04:16.074,0:04:18.620
in every area after every disaster,

0:04:18.644,0:04:20.446
these tools should exist.

0:04:21.049,0:04:22.956
MO: So, we decided to build them:

0:04:22.980,0:04:26.490
a recovery in a box, something that[br]could be deployed after every disaster

0:04:26.514,0:04:28.010
by any local organizer.

0:04:28.437,0:04:31.820
CO: I decided to stay in the country,[br]give up the master's in Moscow

0:04:31.844,0:04:33.908
and to work full-time to make this happen.

0:04:33.932,0:04:35.425
In the course of the past year,

0:04:35.449,0:04:38.909
we've become experts in the field[br]of community-powered disaster recovery.

0:04:38.933,0:04:41.417
And there are three main problems[br]that we've observed

0:04:41.441,0:04:43.131
with the way things work currently.

0:04:43.496,0:04:44.647
MO: The tools.

0:04:44.671,0:04:48.606
Large aid organizations are exceptional[br]at bringing massive resources to bear

0:04:48.630,0:04:49.793
after a disaster,

0:04:49.817,0:04:53.232
but they often fulfill very specific[br]missions, and then they leave.

0:04:53.256,0:04:57.474
This leaves local residents to deal with[br]the thousands of spontaneous volunteers,

0:04:57.498,0:04:58.657
thousands of donations,

0:04:58.681,0:05:00.688
and all with no training and no tools.

0:05:00.712,0:05:03.840
So they use Post-its or Excel or Facebook.

0:05:03.864,0:05:07.078
But none of these tools allow you[br]to value high-priority information

0:05:07.102,0:05:09.571
amidst all of the photos and well-wishes.

0:05:09.595,0:05:10.905
CO: The timing.

0:05:10.929,0:05:14.097
Disaster relief is essentially[br]a backwards political campaign.

0:05:14.121,0:05:16.843
In a political campaign,[br]you start with no interest

0:05:16.867,0:05:19.049
and no capacity to turn that into action.

0:05:19.073,0:05:20.284
You build both gradually,

0:05:20.308,0:05:23.459
until a moment of peak mobilization[br]at the time of the election.

0:05:23.483,0:05:26.218
In a disaster, however,[br]you start with all of the interest

0:05:26.242,0:05:27.558
and none of the capacity.

0:05:27.582,0:05:29.654
And you've only got about seven days

0:05:29.678,0:05:33.117
to capture 50 percent of all[br]of the Web searches that will ever be made

0:05:33.141,0:05:34.556
to help your area.

0:05:34.580,0:05:36.167
Then some sporting event happens,

0:05:36.191,0:05:39.207
and you've got only the resources[br]that you've collected thus far

0:05:39.231,0:05:41.584
to meet the next five years[br]of recovery needs.

0:05:42.121,0:05:44.610
This is the slide for Katrina.

0:05:45.047,0:05:47.145
This is the curve for Joplin.

0:05:47.510,0:05:50.293
And this is the curve[br]for the Dallas tornadoes in April,

0:05:50.317,0:05:51.667
where we deployed software.

0:05:51.995,0:05:53.153
There's a gap here.

0:05:53.693,0:05:56.902
Affected households have to wait[br]for the insurance adjuster to visit

0:05:56.926,0:05:59.664
before they can start accepting help[br]on their properties.

0:05:59.688,0:06:02.670
And you've only got about four days[br]of interest in Dallas.

0:06:03.829,0:06:05.160
MO: Data.

0:06:05.184,0:06:07.018
Data is inherently unsexy,

0:06:07.042,0:06:09.264
but it can jump-start an area's recovery.

0:06:09.288,0:06:12.305
FEMA and the state will pay[br]85 percent of the cost

0:06:12.329,0:06:13.924
of a federally-declared disaster,

0:06:13.948,0:06:16.589
leaving the town to pay[br]the last 15 percent of the bill.

0:06:16.613,0:06:18.222
Now that expense can be huge,

0:06:18.246,0:06:22.200
but if the town can mobilize X amount[br]of volunteers for Y hours,

0:06:22.224,0:06:27.065
the dollar value of that labor used[br]goes toward the town's contribution.

0:06:27.089,0:06:28.417
But who knows that?

0:06:28.782,0:06:31.004
Now try to imagine[br]the sinking feeling you get

0:06:31.028,0:06:34.876
when you've just sent out 2,000 volunteers[br]and you can't prove it.

0:06:35.622,0:06:38.059
CO: These are three problems[br]with a common solution.

0:06:38.083,0:06:41.112
If we can get the right tools[br]at the right time

0:06:41.136,0:06:43.102
to the people who will inevitably step up

0:06:43.126,0:06:45.481
and start putting[br]their communities back together,

0:06:45.505,0:06:48.207
we can create new standards[br]in disaster recovery.

0:06:48.231,0:06:51.165
MO: We needed canvasing tools,[br]donations databasing,

0:06:51.189,0:06:54.179
needs reporting, remote volunteer access,

0:06:54.203,0:06:56.050
all in an easy-to-use website.

0:06:56.074,0:06:57.511
CO: And we needed help.

0:06:57.535,0:07:00.699
Alvin, our software engineer[br]and co-founder, has built these tools.

0:07:00.723,0:07:04.794
Chris and Bill have volunteered their time[br]to use operations and partnerships.

0:07:04.818,0:07:08.310
And we've been flying into disaster areas[br]since this past January,

0:07:08.334,0:07:10.683
setting up software, training residents

0:07:10.707,0:07:14.945
and licensing the software to areas[br]that are preparing for disasters.

0:07:14.969,0:07:17.795
MO: One of our first launches[br]was after the Dallas tornadoes

0:07:17.819,0:07:18.970
this past April.

0:07:18.994,0:07:21.624
We flew into a town[br]that had a static, outdated website

0:07:21.648,0:07:24.614
and a frenetic Facebook feed,[br]trying to structure the response,

0:07:24.638,0:07:26.026
and we launched our platform.

0:07:26.050,0:07:28.292
All of the interest came[br]in the first four days,

0:07:28.316,0:07:30.286
but by the time they lost the news cycle,

0:07:30.310,0:07:31.747
that's when the needs came in,

0:07:31.771,0:07:34.941
yet they had this massive resource[br]of what people were able to give

0:07:34.965,0:07:37.729
and they've been able to meet[br]the needs of their residents.

0:07:37.753,0:07:39.809
CO: So it's working,[br]but it could be better.

0:07:39.833,0:07:42.511
Emergency preparedness is a big deal[br]in disaster recovery

0:07:42.535,0:07:44.784
because it makes towns safer[br]and more resilient.

0:07:44.808,0:07:47.699
Imagine if we could have[br]these systems ready to go in a place

0:07:47.723,0:07:49.496
before a disaster.

0:07:49.972,0:07:51.780
So that's what we're working on.

0:07:51.804,0:07:55.013
We're working on getting the software[br]to places so people expect it,

0:07:55.037,0:07:56.378
so people know how to use it

0:07:56.402,0:07:58.184
and so it can be filled ahead of time

0:07:58.208,0:08:00.590
with that micro-information[br]that drives recovery.

0:08:00.614,0:08:02.447
MO: It's not rocket science.

0:08:02.471,0:08:04.690
These tools are obvious[br]and people want them.

0:08:04.714,0:08:07.142
In our hometown,[br]we trained a half-dozen residents

0:08:07.166,0:08:08.888
to run these Web tools on their own,

0:08:08.912,0:08:11.100
because Caitria and I[br]live here, in Boston.

0:08:11.124,0:08:14.100
They took to it immediately,[br]and now they are forces of nature.

0:08:14.124,0:08:17.079
There are over three volunteer groups[br]working almost every day,

0:08:17.103,0:08:19.111
and have been since June 1 of last year,

0:08:19.135,0:08:22.718
to make sure these residents get what[br]they need and get back in their homes.

0:08:22.742,0:08:25.065
They have hotlines[br]and spreadsheets and data.

0:08:25.089,0:08:27.179
CO: And that makes a difference.

0:08:27.203,0:08:31.057
June 1 this year marked the one-year[br]anniversary of the Monson tornado,

0:08:31.081,0:08:34.374
and our community's never been[br]more connected or more empowered.

0:08:34.398,0:08:38.630
We've been able to see the same[br]transformation in Texas and in Alabama.

0:08:38.654,0:08:40.477
Because it doesn't take Harvard or MIT

0:08:40.501,0:08:42.566
to fly in and fix problems[br]after a disaster;

0:08:42.590,0:08:43.914
it takes a local.

0:08:43.938,0:08:46.793
No matter how good an aid organization[br]is at what they do,

0:08:46.817,0:08:48.492
they eventually have to go home.

0:08:48.516,0:08:50.730
But if you give locals the tools,

0:08:50.754,0:08:53.559
if you show them[br]what they can do to recover,

0:08:53.583,0:08:55.138
they become experts.

0:08:57.007,0:08:58.031
(Applause)

0:08:58.055,0:08:59.207
MO: All right. Let's go.

0:08:59.231,0:09:02.460
(Applause)