Crowdsourcing for Crisis Response
- info1765125
- Jan 27
- 2 min read
Updated: 7 hours ago
FloodLight & The Power of Community
From the first person account on Code For Pakistan
In the summer of 2022 torrential rains—quickly becoming floods—began spreading all over Pakistan. Almost 33 million people and livestock were affected by the tragedy. Thousands of casualties were reported. People became homeless overnight as the waves washed away their entire towns and villages. The number of displaced families in need of immediate help was increasing, but nobody knew where to go.
The news of the floods spread across the nation, and the population was faced with a constant stream of updates that was only overwhelming them further. Everyone was struggling to make sense of the disaster and figure out how to help those affected by it. It was heartbreaking to see so many people left homeless, and it was clear that urgent assistance was needed.
Code for Pakistan searched for ways to contribute to the relief efforts, and hoped that clearer, more accurate information would emerge to better understand the extent of the damage and how they could help the families affected by the floods.
FloodLight was created to solve these communication breakdowns. FloodLight is Pakistan's first-ever data mapping platform for floods, open and accessible to all. Developed on top of an open-source application called Ushahidi, It was up and ready for use the in a few hours.
'Within just 2 months, they were able to collect over 1000 data points that illustrated the floods' impact all over Pakistan. From locations of medical camps and relief shelters to fundraisers and soup kitchens, FloodLight showed you everything.
But it wasn't just about the data, although whatever we managed to gather was quite valuable. It was about making a meaningful difference.
FloodLight was awarded at the inaugural 2024 Don Norman Design Award
