Hurricane hackers build a more prepared Savannah

Mary Landers
Team Wright Square works on what turned out to be its first place entry, SAVeLINE, a timeline that creates a sense of urgency and prompts action in the face of an approaching hurricane. Photo courtesy Aaron Pompei.

A weekend hackathon produced ideas for communicating better when a hurricane threatens Savannah, including an interactive timeline that builds a sense of urgency as a hurricane approaches and an online game that aims to broaden the reach of local emergency planners.

Sponsored by Open Savannah in partnership with Chatham Emergency Management Agency, the hacking marathon attracted 41 participants in eight teams to the Creative Coast at Bull Street Labs to compete for $6,000 in prizes offered by the Savannah Economic Development Authority, the event sponsor. Open Savannah is a local affiliate of Code for America, which uses “the principles and practices of the digital age to improve how government serves the American public, and how the public improves government.”

The contest kicked off with talks about Savannah’s experience with Hurricanes Irma and Matthew and the challenges that remain in engaging residents in emergency preparation and response. Keynote speakers on Saturday included Jill Gambill, Coastal Community Resilience Specialist for the Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant at UGA, who discussed her efforts to develop more effective communication about the threats posed by hurricane storm surge.

First prize winner Team Wright Square came up with SAVeLine, a timeline that would act as a continually updated resource for citizens, telling them what needs to be done when in the nerve-jangling five days before a forecast hurricane landfall. The timeline would also indicate how government agencies were executing their hurricane plans, providing transparency. Judges also named SAVeLine as the “best prototype.” The team members were Hernán Maestre, Leslie Moses, Lu Fang and Rachel Gardner.

Second prize winner Team Liberty designed a game called Block Hero in which players accumulate points by encouraging others to sign up for CEMA Alerts, the emergency planners’ text messaging service.

“That’s an idea I could walk into a classroom and use tomorrow,” said Gambill, who also served as a judge.

The team members were Joe Volpe, Brittany Andrews, Laura Serrrano, Patrick Hussey and Naina Noorali.

The weekend event saw data people collaborating with web developers and marketing experts. Data people and subject matter experts brainstormed with everyday citizens who brought their own experience of two recent hurricanes to the table. It was the first of what is billed as an annual “Hack for Savannah” civic hackathon.

Several of the teams designed web sites or app prototypes that would provide one-stop shopping for hurricane information specific to the Savannah area. Third prize winner Team Chippewa Square created such a web application called SavAlert, “a phased-based approach to resource access and engagement with fellow citizens and emergency management.” Team members were Jorji Ampofo, Daniel Berksteiner IV, Nicholas Bulka and Jalil Floyd.

Working alone, Savannah Early College High School student Donald Hinton received a special award for “best turnkey” project, a web site called Savannah Storm Info that included a crowd sourcing feature to create maps of storm impacts as well as post-storm openings and closings. CEMA Director Dennis Jones loved the web site saying he could see implementing it immediately.

First, second and third place teams received $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000, respectively. Another $1,000 prize was awarded for the best prototype.

The judging panel included officials from the city of Savannah, Chatham County and Chatham Emergency Management Agency plus local tech entrepreneurs, the keynote speakers Jill Gambill and Code for America Charlotte executive director Jill Bjers as well as Savannah Morning News reporter Mary Landers.

Open Savannah founder and brigade captain Carl Lewis was impressed with the hackathon results.

“The quality was beyond our expectations,” he said. “In that short time, they were going from blank slate to being able to pitch in about 24 hours.”