As a hurricane threatens, White House helps Americans text-to-find shelter
Good evening from Washington, where I’m digesting another good fall day spent at Howard University participating in the third Democracy Summit convened by the Center for Journalism and Democracy.
As in past years, the proceedings were livestreamed and archived on YouTube, where you can watch online. I took the opportunity to ask the experts present questions about oligarchy and corruption, which I’ll write up tomorrow.
Tonight, I’m thinking about my fellow Americans in Florida who are in harm’s way as a historic hurricane barrels into the Gulf coast.
As subscribers and folks following me on social media know, I’ve been asking the President to use the presidential alert system to directly send information to Americans affected by Hurricane Helene.
Tonight, the White House announced something else: an excellent new use of short message sending (SMS), building on good work during the pandemic with vaccines.gov.
As POTUS tweeted, Americans can now find a FEMA shelter nearby by texting SHELTER + their ZIP code to 43362.
I texted it my zipcode in Washington. No options within 200 miles, but I got a link to fema.gov/shelter for future reference.
That’s an innovative form of 21st century infrastructure that will endure after the hurricane passes.
Using text messages to enable Americans to find a nearby place to get a vaccine shot in a pandemic was a canonical civic text.
Using text messages, websites, and apps to enable Americans to literally find shelter and get aid in a natural disaster is another canonical civic text.
Technology can’t solve social problems, but we can work together to better connect people in need to information and one to one another.
Directly engaging Americans with timely guidance is exactly what we should expect of our governent in a pandemic, natural response, or war, cutting through a hurricane of wind, water, and lies. More of this, please.
As always, thank you for subscribing and amplifying Civic Texts, which will not be sustainable without you. Many thanks to everyone who has supported my work, particularly folks who have subscribed to memberships since our soft launch in April.
Please keep sharing these newsletters on social media and forwarding them on email. Organic growth by word of mouth and social recommendations is incredibly helpful. You can always write to me with questions, comments, tips, features, or other feedback at alex@governing.digital or call/text at 410-849-9808.
