title: Twitter as a Potential Disaster Risk Reduction Tool. Part II: Descriptive Analysis of Identified Twitter Activity during the 2013 Hattiesburg F4 Tornado.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This article describes a novel triangulation methodological approach for identifying twitter activity of regional active twitter users during the 2013 Hattiesburg EF-4 Tornado.
  
  
  METHODS
  A data extraction and geographically centered filtration approach was utilized to generate Twitter data for 48 hrs pre- and post-Tornado. The data was further validated using six sigma approach utilizing GPS data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The regional analysis revealed a total of 81,441 tweets, 10,646 Twitter users, 27,309 retweets and 2637 tweets with GPS coordinates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Twitter tweet activity increased 5 fold during the response to the Hattiesburg Tornado.  Retweeting activity increased 2.2 fold. Tweets with a hashtag increased 1.4 fold. Twitter was an effective disaster risk reduction tool for the Hattiesburg EF-4 Tornado 2013.
authors.affiliation: College of Osteopathic Medicine, William Carey University, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA.
authors.forename: Guy Paul
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: College of Osteopathic Medicine, William Carey University, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA.
authors.forename: Violet
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yeager
authors.affiliation: Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Frederick M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Burkle
authors.affiliation: College of Osteopathic Medicine, William Carey University, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA.
authors.forename: Italo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Subbarao
keywords: Communications; Disaster analysis; Disaster risk reduction; Prevention and preparedness; Social media; Twitter