Monitoring unmet needs: using 2-1-1 during natural disasters

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast forcing unprecedented mass evacuation and devastation. Texas 2-1-1 is a disaster communication hub between callers with unmet needs and community services at disaster sites and evacuation destinations.

To describe the location and timing of unmet disaster needs collected in real-time through Katrina-Rita disaster phases.

In 2008-2010, a total of 25 data sets of Texas 2-1-1 calls from August-December 2005 were recoded and merged. In 2011-2012, analysis was performed of unmet need types, with comparisons over time and location; mapping was adjusted by population size.

Of 635,983 total 2-1-1 calls during the study period, 65% included primary disaster unmet needs: housing/shelter (28%); health/safety (18%); food/water (15%); transportation/fuel (4%). Caller demand spiked on Mondays, decreasing to a precipitous drop on weekends and holidays. Unmet needs surged during evacuation and immediate disaster response, remaining at higher threshold through recovery. Unmet need volume was concentrated in metropolitan areas. After adjusting for population size, "hot-spots" showed in smaller evacuation destinations and along evacuation routes.

New disaster management strategies and policies are needed for evacuation destinations to support extended evacuation and temporary or permanent relocation. Planning and monitoring disaster resources for unmet needs over time and location could be targeted effectively using real-time 2-1-1 call patterns. Smaller evacuation communities were more vulnerable, exhausting their limited resources more quickly. Emergency managers should devise systems to more quickly authorize vouchers and reimbursements. As 2-1-1s expand and coordinate disaster roles nationwide, opportunities exist for analysis of unmet disaster needs to improve disaster management and enhance community resiliency.