What does Twitter and weather have in common?

Businesses are using social media as part of their marketing efforts. It seems every day another industry is realizing its value. According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), the state of Mississippi is using Twitter to reach their customers and communities. Since we here at Hartman Inventory are associated with disasters, insurance and recovery, I think Mississippi has created an extremely useful, beneficial tool in Twitter.

This hurricane season, the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) will be posting tweets to give traffic information for evacuation routes. According to III, MDOT has created six separate Twitter feeds that will provide route-specific traffic information to evacuees traveling Interstates 10, 20, 55, 59 and U.S. Highways 49 and 98. Evacuees will receive information on traffic delays, contraflow information, fuel availability and roadway openings on a real-time basis.

We know how quickly people are informed, just think back to the plane crash and how Twitter beat the news media in alerting others of what was happening. Utilizing Twitter to inform people of impending disaster - and how to protect themselves - is smart, responsible and very 'now'. Congratulations to the MDOT!

What other states are using Twitter for this purpose?