Social media a force multiplier in marooned Chennai

NEW DELHI: Social media has proved a force multiplier for Chennai as the southern city is submerged following relentless rain.
A website — chennairains.org — was floated by volunteers to help the needy link up with Good Samaritans. Do-gooders from Kolkata to Delhi offered to recharge phones of those marooned in the Tamil Nadu capital. Even those in faraway Sydney have started raising funds online for flood relief.
Redditor 90sChennaiGuy posted: “Helpful links for Chennaiites” which was among the top posts on the r/india forum. Bihar deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav tweeted a pledge donating a month’s salary for Chennai flood relief.
#ChennaiFloods remained the top trend in India on Twitter through the day. Facebook community Chennai Rain Relief 2015 – CRR posted relief operation updates and emergency aid phone numbers to its 12,000 followers.
A New York-based blogger and Twitter user who goes by the online identity krtgrphr, coordinated relief with other online volunteers through a Google spreadsheet and a website called chennairains.org. The spreadsheet, which was open to all to edit, contained locations and contact details of those who can offer shelter. The website, like the jkfloodrelief website floated during last year’s deluge in Srinagar, is helping make a database of those needing rescue, or food, and providing that data to those who can help.
“If you see a tweet that needs a resource (a phone number), and have spare time, please use http://chennairains.org, connect them with info,” he tweeted on Wednesday.
Sydney-based Chennaite Aishwarya Rao started an online fundraising campaign to help in rescue operations. Though Rao was still in the process of identifying an agency to transfer the funds to, she had raised $700 by Wednesday evening on her gofundme.com page. “The money will be transferred via a check or a bank transfer. I’ll personally share the full details of how the money is channelled,” she promised on her page.
Another person who goes by the online name @roshnimo raised another practical point. “Write all the phone numbers and keep. That’s what we did during Phailin. Online help is fine, but if there’s no electricity for 3 days?” tweeted @roshnimo who had posted crucial updates when cyclone Phailin hit Orissa in 2013. She suggested that those experiencing power cuts turn off mobile data to conserve battery and maintain connectivity.