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X. Jin
of free meals provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
for victims. The food support topic contains “candy,” “fema,” “snack,” and “meals.”
For example, on November 12, 2019, one twitter user criticized the government’s
deficient responses to the food needs of the impacted people in Puerto Rico: “It’s been
nearly two months since Hurricane Maria and thousands in Puerto Rico still don’t
have access to emergency food.” Interestingly, on the same day, another user posted
“Are Hurricane Maria Survivors Getting ‘Skittle Meals’ From The Government?”.
The mental health topic concentrated on victims’ trauma and mental health. The
top terms in this topic contained “traumatic,” “health,” “stress,” and “public.” The
New York Times’ tweets on mental health have been shared by other twitter users.
For example, the following tweets have been frequently retweeted: “After Hurricane,
Signs of a Mental Health Crisis Haunt Puerto Rico” and “Much of Puerto Rico’s
population is showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress, public health officials
say” (Dickerson 2017).
The fatalities topic was about the death toll result. People were also concerned
about the fatalities caused by Hurricane Maria. The words such as “death,” “toll,”
“funeral,” “fatalities,” and “investigation” contributed to this topic. For instance, the
Cable News Network tweeted the Puerto Rico death toll news: “Puerto Rico has asked
funeral homes to help identify Hurricane Maria fatalities after a CNN investigation
into the death toll” (Sutter et al. 2017). This tweet has been retweeted 172 times and
received 90 favorites.
The topic of the government’s responses to the disaster focused on the inadequate
responses provided by the government. This topic includes “governor,” “needs,”
“supplies,” “bill,” and “Clinton.” For example, the following tweet posted by the
American Broadcasting Company News (ABC News) has been retweeted 491 times
and received 1,248 favorites: “Puerto Rico governor says Bill Clinton’s visit will
help people realize the island still needs relief supplies more than 2 months after
Hurricane Maria” (ABC News 2017).
The topic of water and power supply showed that Puerto Rico still did not have
normal water and power supply. People complained about no access to power and
no water for bath and drink. The water supply topic contains “running,” “water,”
“bathe,” and “puerto rico.” By the time of data collection, the following tweet has been
retweeted 2,740 times and received 2,031 favorites: “Nearly 6 weeks after Hurricane
Maria, thousands in Puerto Rico still don’t have running water, have nowhere to
bathe or wash clothes. Now, it’s making people sick.” Similarly, a tweet posted by
the New York Times has been retweeted 351 times: “After a month lost to Hurricane
Maria, students return to class in San Juan, making do without electricity & water”
(Alvarez 2017).
To provide a clear picture of mentioned within Hurricane Maria tweets, this study
also visualized word frequency with word-cloud of JMP Pro13 (Fig. 9.1). The larger
the word size, the more frequently it was mentioned. For details of the top terms and
phrases associated with Hurricane Maria tweets in the resolution stage, please check
Figs. 9.2 and 9.3.
X. Jin
of free meals provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
for victims. The food support topic contains “candy,” “fema,” “snack,” and “meals.”
For example, on November 12, 2019, one twitter user criticized the government’s
deficient responses to the food needs of the impacted people in Puerto Rico: “It’s been
nearly two months since Hurricane Maria and thousands in Puerto Rico still don’t
have access to emergency food.” Interestingly, on the same day, another user posted
“Are Hurricane Maria Survivors Getting ‘Skittle Meals’ From The Government?”.
The mental health topic concentrated on victims’ trauma and mental health. The
top terms in this topic contained “traumatic,” “health,” “stress,” and “public.” The
New York Times’ tweets on mental health have been shared by other twitter users.
For example, the following tweets have been frequently retweeted: “After Hurricane,
Signs of a Mental Health Crisis Haunt Puerto Rico” and “Much of Puerto Rico’s
population is showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress, public health officials
say” (Dickerson 2017).
The fatalities topic was about the death toll result. People were also concerned
about the fatalities caused by Hurricane Maria. The words such as “death,” “toll,”
“funeral,” “fatalities,” and “investigation” contributed to this topic. For instance, the
Cable News Network tweeted the Puerto Rico death toll news: “Puerto Rico has asked
funeral homes to help identify Hurricane Maria fatalities after a CNN investigation
into the death toll” (Sutter et al. 2017). This tweet has been retweeted 172 times and
received 90 favorites.
The topic of the government’s responses to the disaster focused on the inadequate
responses provided by the government. This topic includes “governor,” “needs,”
“supplies,” “bill,” and “Clinton.” For example, the following tweet posted by the
American Broadcasting Company News (ABC News) has been retweeted 491 times
and received 1,248 favorites: “Puerto Rico governor says Bill Clinton’s visit will
help people realize the island still needs relief supplies more than 2 months after
Hurricane Maria” (ABC News 2017).
The topic of water and power supply showed that Puerto Rico still did not have
normal water and power supply. People complained about no access to power and
no water for bath and drink. The water supply topic contains “running,” “water,”
“bathe,” and “puerto rico.” By the time of data collection, the following tweet has been
retweeted 2,740 times and received 2,031 favorites: “Nearly 6 weeks after Hurricane
Maria, thousands in Puerto Rico still don’t have running water, have nowhere to
bathe or wash clothes. Now, it’s making people sick.” Similarly, a tweet posted by
the New York Times has been retweeted 351 times: “After a month lost to Hurricane
Maria, students return to class in San Juan, making do without electricity & water”
(Alvarez 2017).
To provide a clear picture of mentioned within Hurricane Maria tweets, this study
also visualized word frequency with word-cloud of JMP Pro13 (Fig. 9.1). The larger
the word size, the more frequently it was mentioned. For details of the top terms and
phrases associated with Hurricane Maria tweets in the resolution stage, please check
Figs. 9.2 and 9.3.