The News Cycle Never Stops, After Tragedy Happens, Gain Support Quickly

Remember back when Puerto Rico was the only subject that was being talked about, yeah must've been a year or two ago...wait, that happened two weeks ago. Amazing what happens when in the interim, there was a mass shooting in Vegas and New Orleans may be hit with the latest TS/Hurricane, Nate.

Puerto Rico was absolutely correct to make as much noise as possible, directly after Hurricane Maria, they knew that they would only have a small window to be at the top of the news cycle. PR needed to maximize support in a hurry, to drum up the outside relief effort and donations.

Prior to Puerto Rico, there were regions all over the Caribbean and Southeast US mainland, that needed relief aid from the damage that Irma had caused. And don't forget about the poor people in Houston that are still dealing with Harvey's aftermath.

Think about how many areas that have been affected in the last month that were headline news for a minute and brushed aside by the media and public due to the next tragedy.

A great example of this phenomena was illustrated by a small city near me, which is comprised mainly of a Puerto Rican/Dominican population. The mayor had organized a relief drive for Houston, they allowed the donations to accumulate and were not that quick to get the aid loaded on a truck for delivery. By the time they were ready to ship, Maria had already hit PR. There was much debate about redirecting the aid to the newest disaster, which hit many residents' families. They ended up doing a separate collection for PR.

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It's quite crass the way that each incident gets it's 15 minutes of Fame and is quickly forgotten. It's not like St. Maarten has been fixed or Barbuda even occupied, but they have disappeared in the collective consciousness of the media and the general public.

If Hurricane Nate turns out to be like Maria and strengthen at the last moment, New Orleans/Biloxi/Mobile, could experience significant damage on Sunday. Guess what that will do to the collective awareness regarding Puerto Rico's plight, right out of the window. PR has already been relegated to second fiddle due to the Vegas shooting.

Have a Media Plan in Place

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My suggestion to all governments that realize their land mass is at risk of cataclysmic natural disasters, is to have a plan in place to drum up support, the moment after tragedy strikes. You may not be the only area damaged. You are now competing for donations/aid/evacuation with your neighbors. There are only so many resources to go around. Your message needs to be clear, concise and constant.

Pack your island/territory with satellite phones, ham radios, generators, fuel and batteries. You will need to get the word out that you need help, the minute the wind stops blowing. It also helps with inter-region communication. Look how long it took for the people on the West coast of Puerto Rico to make contact with San Juan.

The speed in which a government's appeal for aid is made, after tragedy, is a make or break on how well an area will recover and how soon that will happen. It most likely will also reduce the death totals that would occur from lack of resources.

It's impossible to stop the news cycle and pin your cause at the top of the message board of human awareness. Las Vegas/Nate/Harvey Weinstein will soon render your tragedy to page 5 in the news papers and if one were to actually read the little blurb on page 5, they would say:

"Oh yeah, I forgot all about them, I wonder how they're doing?"

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Image sources: 1, 2