How Airbnb Is Looking Out For the Victims of Hurricane Matthew
As Hurricane Matthew approaches the coast of Florida and the lower southeast, millions of people are being forced to evacuate their homes and find shelter elsewhere. But where do 2.5 million people go when they are only given a few days notice? Traditionally, school gyms, churches and even professional football stadiums in the case of Hurricane Katrina, have been transformed into public shelters to house the victims of natural disasters. While these options are helpful, clearly its impossible to be able to house that many people with such short notice. That’s where Airbnb comes in.
According to Airbnb spokesperson Nick Shapiro, Airbnb has made changes to its application that makes it possible for hosts to list their homes for rental for free. In the wake of a natural disaster families often have few places to turn, thankfully Airbnb has left the door open for them. “Airbnb changed its code order to allow people to rent out their place for zero dollars, because you could not do that otherwise,” says Patrick Meier, a humanitarian technology expert who consults for the World Bank, the Australian Red Cross, and Facebook. “Profound,” Meier called the service, which was launched in 2013 after Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast. This disaster response service is something that makes a tremendous difference for victims of natural disasters.
When it looks like families might lose everything it is nice to know that in disaster we can support those who desperately need help. While Airbnb changed the perspective of opening your home to strangers a few years back, I like to think that this mentality has always existed for victims of loss and devastation. As I write this sitting my home in Boulder, Colorado I can’t help looking around at different items in my house and think about whether I would need to bring that item with me if I knew I might never see my house again. The situation for residents of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina must be like something out of a nightmare, I can’t begin to imagine what it would be like to experience a loss of that magnitude. But while it is a very small plus in the shadow of all that loss, I think what Airbnb is doing is extremely respectable. Stay safe out there Florida.
