Hurricane Sandy and the subway

After Hurricane Sandy hit in October 2012, the MTA in New York City made an effort to document the post-disaster impacts on the transit network. The agency was extremely proactive in getting real-time photographs out of the devastation and recovery efforts, but they'd started using social media to communicate with the public before the hurricane had reached the city:

Even before Sandy touched ground, the MTA began posting Flickr photos of the agency’s storm preparation: a tubular dam inflated at the West Side Yard, walls of sandbags stacked at MTA HQ, Grand Central and Penn Station evacuated and desolate. The first storm image came from a traffic camera inside the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel (formerly Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel), which revealed a road flooded with water. Posted on Oct. 29, the day of the storm, the photo is grainy but instantly powerful--one of the first images to reveal that Sandy was more devastating than anyone anticipated. With more than 144,000 views, it is the MTA’s most popular Flickr photo.

The MTA sent out a staff photographer to take pictures, but also asked employees to use their own devices to collect photos. It has has posted hundreds of photos of the hurricane's devastation on its Flickr feed.

The MTA's use of social media generally is quite impressive. In addition to Flickr, the MTA uses Twitter and has its own YouTube channel. Side note: A nice piece on YouTube called ONTIME: Grand Central at 100 highlights a collection of art pieces focused on the clock at Grand Central Terminal.

(via Co.CREATE)