Jersey Shore Hurricane News’ Justin Auciello reflects back on Superstorm Sandy

One year after Superstorm Sandy ravaged the Jersey Shore and other parts of Mid-Atlantic, some towns and residents have been able to rebuild, while many others are still struggling to reconstruct their homes and businesses.

This morning on WHYY’s Radio Times, Marty Moss-Coane interviewed Justin Auciello about the role social media played in publishing some of the earliest damage reports from Superstorm Sandy. Auciello is the founder and editor of the website Jersey Shore Hurricane News and write’s the Down the Shore blog for NewsWorks.org.

Auciello, a resident of South Seaside Park, is followed by over 200,000 readers on his JSHN’s Facebook page. The website has become a model for how social media can be used during a large-scale public emergency. Earlier this year he was named by the White House as one of its Champions of Change for his innovative use of social media. The White House singled out the role JSHN played during the storm noting that the website was used by the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management to communicate with people requesting rescue from the storm surge, as 911 was overloaded.

Also, interviewed on this hour of Radio Times was MaryAnn Spoto, who covers the rebuilding of the Jersey Shore after Superstorm Sandy for The Star-Ledger and Orrin Pilkey, professor emeritus of Earth and Ocean Sciences at Duke University.