Allan Martell
Master’s Project
2012

Mainstream media offers an array of mapping applications where people at risk of hurricanes can foresee the trajectory of an ongoing storm. While these visualizations help to effectively respond to that emergency context, they can’t assist long-term preparation processes. A long term vision would allow people at risk of hurricanes to prepare with enough anticipation, even before the next hurricane happens. However, there is no digital mapping application that promotes disaster prevention on the long- term.

The Hurricane Irene Diaries (HID) was built to fill this void. The system is an interactive map of stories from people who experienced Hurricane Irene. HID aims to motivate people at risk of hurricanes to start a discussion about the better ways to deal with these extreme climate events. To meet its goal, the application deals with a case from the past, which eliminates the urgency to react, and leverages storytelling as this is a common resource for existing disaster-prevention efforts.