A pandemic sweeps across the world and a record number of storms wreak havoc across the Gulf of Mexico. Another hurricane, larger and slower than Harvey, creeps over your city, bringing terrifying winds and over four feet of rain. Your home is flooding and the power has gone out.
How will you
survive
the next
big disaster?
What do you do?
The Lily Pad Network is an emergency response approach designed to proactively connect individuals to their community, and communities to each other. Lily Pad Networks help people prepare for, respond to, and recover from dangerous threats and stressors—together.
With
Explore your possible journeys through this devastating storm scenario, either
or
a Lily Pad Network™
Without
During Hurricane Harvey, your vehicle got flooded and you ended up crawling into the attic with an axe. You made your way to the roof and waited 14 terrifying hours to be rescued by a helicopter. You’re not doing that again. So you throw whatever you can into a backpack and head for the door. You step into the storm, hoping, praying, to find adequate shelter nearby, somewhere with safety precautions in place for the pandemic.
See what happens with a Lily Pad Network
What happens next?
Thankfully, you attended all the emergency preparation sessions at the local school. Your storm kit is stocked with essential supplies. You left your car in a local parking garage that sits above the floodplain. And you are connected to your neighbors and community’s safe haven via the Lily Pad app on your phone. The app pings—it’s safe to leave the house. You open the door, scared but confident everything will be ok.
See what happens without a Lily Pad Network
Do you proceed with or without a Lily Pad Network?
Ok, you’re out of your house.
Water is rising, you head for higher ground. You open your elderly neighbor’s door. “Gerry!” you yell, but no reply. You can only hope he got out, and that he remembered to bring his heart medication with him. You head to some houses up the street that managed to stay dry during Harvey. Surely they must still be above the flood waters. You knock on doors until someone lets you in.
You rush to the designated meeting point. You check in on the app, which shows everyone is accounted for. “Got your heart meds?” you ask Gerry. He nods. The Lily Pad Fleet Aqueous Vehicle makes its way down the flooded street towards you, the same vehicle that came to your neighborhood for a resilience training session. The vehicle takes you all to your community’s Lily Pad.
Ok, you made it to a safer place than your house
Water is rising inside the house. Your neighbor takes you upstairs, where four families, three dogs, and you all wait to be rescued. Someone says that the coast guard has been deployed but no one knows when. A child sneezes. They are not wearing a mask. The next day, after a tense night of watching water creep up the stairs, the Coast Guard finally arrives and takes you to a shelter.
You and your neighbors arrive at the Lily Pad, a retrofitted high school. Staff members hand out masks and hand sanitizer and assess your needs. They even offer help with contacting your insurance provider so you can start your claim. There is ample food and drinking water and physical distancing protocols are in place. You remind Gerry to take his meds before going to bed. You feel safe.
You finally made it to a community shelter.
You’ve been living at the shelter for a week. Although grateful for the roof over your head, you’re anxious about your health risks with such a large crowd of people, many sick. Fortunately, Gerry is okay. Supplies are running low, not just at the shelter but across the region, so getting more essentials could take a while. It seems that all you can do now is wait and hope.
At your Lily Pad, daily health screenings and COVID tests limit risks of an outbreak. And because Lily Pads are connected across the city, supplies move quickly to where they’re needed most. People, too—Gerry transfers to a different Lily Pad to be with his daughter. Soon after that, you move into short-term accommodations that the staff helped you coordinate with your insurance. It’s not home, but given the circumstances, it’s close enough.
Explore this interactive PDF to learn how, from preparation to response and recovery, the Lily Pad Network™ leverages existing assets to boost community resilience when disaster strikes.
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The Lily Pad Network was recently selected for inclusion in the Houston 2020 Visions exhibit and publication.
