Kenyan Emerges As Local US City Hero in Wake of Tornado Disaster

DJ Expect

In the wake of a tornado disaster in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a Kenyan has emerged as a local hero, coordinating response from New York city first, then flying in and working things on the ground and is all over the news. 

When the tornado hit the Twin Cities May 22, many outside of the affected areas watched in horror as the news stories and Twitter updates followed the devastation in North Minneapolis.  Some felt compelled to help, even if they weren’t connected to a nonprofit or a church on the North Side. Among the champion volunteers: information expert Peter Kerre, Somali relief organizer Nimco Ahmed, and the Pet Project's Kim Carrier.

Peter Kerre (DJ XPECT) was in his New York apartment when his sister called from Minneapolis to tell him that a tornado was going down.  “Oh Damn, damn, damn,” is what he thought to himself. A previous resident of Minneapolis, he has many friends on the North Side.

After he heard the new, Kerre just snapped.  He decided to put something together where people could centralize information.  He comes from an information security background, and it was an instant reaction.  “I just stepped into that mode,” he said.

He quickly set up a Facebook group, called North Minneapolis Post Tornado Watch.  And he started posting all of the links that he could find—videos, pictures, news, updates, ways for people to get help, and ways for people to volunteer.

As a DJ and nightclub promoter, Kerre had over 4,000 Facebook friends, so it wasn’t hard to get a lot of people to join the page initially, and then “word just went around”.  The FB page became a place where people could share information.

Then Kerre began creating a document, with all the resources available, and he decided to create a Google site, so that he could update it in real time.  “I didn’t really expect this page to be the main source of information for the whole city,”  he said, but that's what it has become.

When the word spread about Kerre’s Facebook page and Google site, there was a bit of confusion.  What shook him up the most was an email from the Minneapolis Police, demanding that he identify himself. Some other emails from city officials seemed confrontational. Initially, he was a bit confrontational back.  “It’s none of your business who I am,” he said.

“I’m a nobody,” he said to the people inquiring about his identity.  In a way it was true, but even though Kerre wasn’t connected to an official organization, his efforts have effectively provided information to people who need it.

“There were two things that worked in my favor,” he said.  “The first is that I come from an information security background. I even went through FEMA-sanctioned cybersecurity training.  The other is that for about 12 years I was a promoter in the Twin Cities.  I promoted night clubs and music concerts.” Kerre contributed to building up the Raggae scene in the Twin Cities.

The website has been an effective way to get information out to people, connecting resources and finding help for people who need it.

“We’ve become the new 911 hotline,” Kerre said. “We are getting stuff done fast.”  For example, a woman with an eight-week old baby and a four-year old child needed help finding a place to stay.  The Facebook page facilitated getting Hennepin County to help her within a couple of hours of her need, and the next day someone from the county had contacted her to provide her housing for after Sunday.

 “The first responders are overwhelmed,” Kerre said.  “There is so much information still coming.”

Article courtesy of: http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2011/05/29/diy-volunteers-pitch-help-north-minneapolis-recover-tornado

Video courtesy of: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/video-on-demand/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5943364#.TfIj7ozhYFM;twitter