"The social web is creating a fundamental shift in disaster responseone that will ask emergency managers, government agencies and aid organizations to mix time-honored expertise with real-time input from the public, McGovern said. We need to work together to better respond to that shift."

"The Red Cross survey also found that among web users, social media sites are the fourth most popular source for emergency information, just behind television news, radio and online news sites. More web users say they get their emergency information from social media than from a NOAA weather radio, government website or emergency text message system. One in five social media users also report posting eyewitness accounts of emergency events to their accounts."