FEMA will use social media through all stages of a disaster

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is set up to use Twitter at all stages of a disaster, before the event strikes, during the event and after, said Administrator Craig Fugate.

The agency maintains a Twitter page with just under 30,000 followers, and the administrator himself has a personal page, CraigatFEMA, with almost 6,600 followers. Before a forecast storm hits, today's FEMA can monitor local weather reports and Tweets to advise the public in the affected area. Fugate said his agency is careful to rely only on official information, such as forecasts from the National Weather Service and links from official emergency management agencies. "It's really important I don't try to pose as a weather service," he said. The agency also uses social media to anticipate what a state might need to prepare for a predicted disaster.