From Sweden to Franklin, Louisiana, with Love via Text, Voice & Tweet

May 19, 2011 - PRLog -- "Once upon a time, a Swedish GeoDesign Barrier boss just happened to be in the US for a 'Flood Fighting Fair' in Albuquerque, when the great Mississippi River started to flood, due to heavy rainfall and snow melt. As he already had some barrier stocked in America, he saw the possibility to help - free of cost, of course. However, having tried - in vain - to deploy the barrier somewhere in the Memphis area, he was now struggling to find a suitable place for it in the Louisiana district. So - come Saturday evening, I had a phone call:
'Britt, maybe you could try to find me somewhere, via... that Twitter thing?’ said this non-tweeting Swede." (See brittwarg.blogspot.com)

That's how Britt Warg, Manager at GeoDesign Barriers in UK began her blog post, "There is more to twitter than breakfast cereals" on the morning of May 16th.

Britt and her boss, Sten-Magnus Kullberg, inventor of high-level engineered flood barriers, were searching for someone to assist them in helping Louisianans protect their land from flooding caused by the opening of the Morganza Spillway.  They found that assistance in @Info4Disasters and its online Virtual Emergency Responders team, Leesa Astredo, Donna Lee Weber, and Christina Kraich-Rogers…all thanks to Twitter and a little bit of heart.  That was Saturday, the 14th of May, around 4pm, Louisiana-time.

Once Britt posted her call-out for assistance, the viral message reached Leesa, a resident of Abita Spring, LA, not far from New Orleans, almost immediately through her Twitter User ID, @Viequesbound.  From years of emergency response online and off, including Katrina recovery, Leesa sent a text message to her colleague & partner asking her to please make a call to the "man with the barriers".  Leesa's computer was down, but the urgency of helping her neighbors was what was important.  Residing in New York and well-schooled in "Virtual Emergency Response", Donna logged in to find the phone numbers and links Leesa left for her.  After speaking with Mr. Kullberg, she searched for a voice-contact in an area at risk that would put the barriers to good use in their town.  It took only two calls to find the right person.  St. Mary Parish Emergency Management official Duval H. Arthur, who was working feverishly with his team to gather barrier materials, immediately knew that this was something they could use.  Arrangements were finalized in under two (2) hours and by Sunday afternoon; 100 meters of barriers had been delivered and deployed in the city of Franklin, LA.

Leesa, Donna, Christina, and @Info4Disasters pray that the barriers aren’t needed.  But if they are, thanks to the hearts of the people of GeoDesign Barriers; the dedication of St. Mary’s Parish Emergency Management; and the hard work of the workers who put it up, there’s a little less to worry about.

@Info4Disasters is the Twitter User ID for http://www.Info4Disasters.com, an online “Disaster Encyclopedia” developed by Leesa Astredo, Christina Kraich-Rogers, and Donna Lee Weber.

Please contact Duval H. Arthur, Jr. Of St. Mary Parish at (337) 828-4100, ext 135 to lend a hand in saving Louisiana bayous.

For more information about GeoDesign Barriers, go to http://www.geodesignbarriers.com/.

# # #

Our Mission is to empower the disaster response community with an all-disaster events knowledgebase.