DEVELOPED from a tropical wave in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22, it became a tropical depression, quickly strengthened, and was upgraded to a tropical storm six hours later. Sandy moved slowly northward towards the Greater Antilles, and gradually intensified. On October 24, Sandy was upgraded to a hurricane, shortly before making landfall in Jamaica. Upon moving farther north, Sandy re-entered water and made its second landfall in Cuba during the early morning of October 25 as a Category 2 hurricane. During the late evening of October 25, Sandy weakened to Category 1 strength; in the early hours of October 26, it headed north through the Bahamas. Sandy began to show some characteristics of both tropical and extra tropical cyclones on October 26.  Sandy briefly weakened to a tropical storm in the early morning hours of October 27, and then re-strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane later that morning. Just before 8 a.m. on October 29, Sandy turned to the north-northwest, and started to make its expected approach towards the U.S. coast. At 7 p.m. that evening, Sandy was declared a post-tropical cyclone, while still maintaining Category 1 strength. Sandy made its final landfall 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Atlantic City, New Jersey at about 8 p.m. EDT on October 29.
In the United States, Hurricane Sandy affected at least 24 states from Florida to New England, with tropical storm force winds stretching far inland and mountain snows in West Virginia. The cyclone brought a destructive storm surge to New York City on the evening of October 29, flooding numerous streets, tunnels and subway lines in Lower Manhattan, Staten Island, Coney Island, the Rockaway and other areas of the city, and cutting off electricity to parts of the city and its suburbs, especially Zone A areas near waterways, which were issued evacuation orders. Severe damage occurred in New Jersey, especially in the communities along the Jersey Shore.
Disaster relief agencies have responded quickly to the devastation caused by Super Storm Sandy, with many making mobile a key part of their efforts to raise funds to help those affected by the disaster.
The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, American Humane Assoc. and World Vision are among the relief organizations that have created mobile giving campaigns, enabling users to text a keyword to a short code to donate $10. Mobile is playing a bigger role in disaster relief efforts, as mobile phone penetration grows and users become aware of how easy it is to make a donation this way.
I think one reason there is a focus on mobile giving is because we know that cell phone penetration is over 100 percent, and users generally have their phones within arm’s reach 24 hours a day. “We know that the best way to help is through financial contributions, and the easiest way to do that is through text.”
One thing to note is that text message open rates are 97 percent and 85 percent, and are read in 15 minutes. So text is a quick way to get to someone and know they will open the message in an expedited fashion.
We all know what took place in Haiti in 2010. During that, time there was a key moment for mobile giving. Millions of mobile subscribers donated to the crisis in increments of $5 and $10 by sending a text via their mobile phones. That year, more than $50 million was raised through mobile donations. I can recall clearly getting a text pertaining to the fundraising towards Haiti.
Many of the same organizations once again looked to mobile to help raise relief funds following the tsunami in Japan last year.
Nonprofits have discovered that mobile can be a good way to reach a new audience of givers, as a significant percentage of mobile donors do not communicate with charities using any other method.
In the wake of the Haiti earthquake and Japan’s tsunami, many organizations built a database of opted-in mobile users, which they are leveraging to ask for donations to help in the relief efforts for Sandy.
As a result of these efforts, approximately 15 to 20 percent of the funds raised for disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Sandy are expected to come through mobile phones.
However, donations are not expected to pick up in earnest for a few more days, once the shock over the extent of the damage has worn off.
While the typical campaign consists of a keyword that can be texted to donate $10, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the Red Cross also has a second mobile giving campaign, using a different keyword that enables users to donate $25.
Brands and retailers such as MTV and Kroger are also getting in on the relief efforts by promoting the organization’s mobile call-to-action in banner ads and throughout their digital properties.
Mobile is being used by disaster relief organizations for more than raising funds. Because it was known for some time that the storm was on its way, many organizations sent out text messages to their list of opted-in mobile users with tips on how to prepare; and once the storm was underway, with targeted messages about where shelters could be found.
Hurricane Sandy was the first time that government organizations used mobile to disseminate information related to the hurricane.
Mobile and Web cloud testing and monitoring company Keynote found that almost everyone in and around New York encountered either full-scale outage with their Internet connectivity, or sporadic performance issues, including those accessing the Internet through their mobile devices.
News and media sites were most impacted as concerned New Yorkers tried to get online to access the latest weather and news related to the storm. Retail sites were less affected, with no significant performance slow-downs or availability impacts reported.
However, some of these efforts may have been hampered by the storm itself, which caused service interruptions and significant slow-downs for mobile users, as cell towers were affected by power outages and a surge in voice and data traffic. I do hope things can get back “Techie” fast. After all, mobile technology is a part and a way of life!