Analyzing New York City 311 Call Center Data related to Hurricane Sandy
Year: 2020
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Background: Hurricane Sandy made landfall on October 29 2012 and caused immediate health and economic impacts in the greater New York City (NYC) area. However, the long-term consequences of the storm are not fully understood. We analyzed NYC 311 data to quantify the extent of Hurricane Sandy related concerns in NYC. Methods: Data from NYC 311 Call Center Inquiry and Service Requests were downloaded from the NYC Open Data website (9/1/2010-3/20/20). We included only calls containing the keyword: “Sandy”. Descriptive analyses were conducted to understand the characteristics of the 311 calls, including the date, agency contacted, the geographic location of the caller if available, a brief description and the resolution of each call. Results: Eighty percent of the 78,541 calls specific to Hurricane Sandy were made in 2012, representing 2.1% of all 311 calls in 2012. The top three contacted agencies were 311 Call Center (36.1%), Department of Education (16.2%), and City Hall (13.6%). The main call-in reasons were to obtain information about the City's response to Hurricane Sandy (36.0%), public school openings/closings related to Sandy (14.9%), and locations of walk-in centers offering assistance with recovery services (11.2%). There were 231 service requests made between 9/1/2012 and 12/31/2017 about destroyed buildings due to Sandy, of which 95.9% occurred in 2013. Calls were from Queens (83%), Staten Island (15%) and Brooklyn (2%), with the majority occurring in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens (62.6%). Conclusion: The 311 call center plays an important role in receiving and disseminating information about hurricane preparedness and recovery/relief in both the immediate and long-term aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Evidenced by Hurricane Sandy calls persisting into 2020, ongoing efforts must be made to enhance disaster preparedness and resilience in communities, in addition to immediately responding to needs of communities after natural disasters.
Source: ISEE Conference Abstracts
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3168700141