[Catastrophic Alerts] Advice and Best Practices During Destructive Fires

This is a brainstorming thread for all of us to share our experiences, best practices, suggestions, and ideas.

Just the other day, I saw a post on my FB wall from the mayor of my town. It was begging people to go out with whatever they could to throw dirt to stop a fire from destroying the homes of a nearby village. I quickly jumped and said, I need to go. I then realized that the post was over 5 hours old: thank you, FB algorithm! :face_with_raised_eyebrow: They had managed to stop the fire, but many volunteers had shown up — this is the power of community!

I have added heartbreaking images to my post. Two days ago, these photos were shared by my friend Marcey who lives in Australia.

As community building is part of my job, I immediately thought that starting a FB group in our local area is a great way to gather a large number of people. They have to select to receive all group notifications, and hopefully, FB will be able to notify them more timely. I will even send a suggestion to FB to mark such groups under a specific category and to give them a priority in the case of catastrophic events.

Together, we can make a difference. Soon, Better Century will host local groups that will serve this very same purpose.

What tips, ideas, and experiences can you share that could help local communities across the globe? I look forward to hearing from everyone.