When Hurricane Helene hit early in the morning, six states lost power, fiber lines, and communication. Many communities in western North Carolina were unreachable.

In this episode, Dana Yaari speaks with Patrick Riley, an Emergency Management Specialist for the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Patrick recounts how traditional radio networks failed and why the lack of communication was the most significant threat in the first 72 hours.

Patrick tells the story of turning to Starlink terminals, private helicopters, and donation radios to reestablish connection with impacted communities, and how these efforts and partnerships filled urgent gaps. He also emphasizes what’s often overlooked in emergencies, listening to what frontline responders actually need and preparing before anything happens.

You’ll learn:

• Why first responders couldn’t reach their own command centers
• How a tech donation from SpaceX altered the response effort
• “Backup plans” often don’t work during disasters

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Welcome to Digital Humanitarian with Patrick Riley
(01:29) What responders saw the moment Helene hit

(03:28) How entire towns lost communication overnight

(04:57) Why backup systems failed during the storm

(06:43) Starlink terminals dropped by helicopter into cut-off areas

(08:56) Coordinating disaster response without reliable comms

(10:10) The double-edged role of social media

(11:46) How the state managed conflicting information

(14:48) Why responders aren’t given what they need

(20:56) The tech tools reshaping search and rescue

(23:30) Patrick’s advice: ask frontline responders what they need

Resources:

• Connect with Patrick
• Learn more about the North Carolina Department of Public Safety
• Connect with Dana
• Learn more about mondayERT

In late 2024, rising waters threatened communities in Kogi State, Nigeria, where floods have long devastated lives and livelihoods. However, this time, people were ready.

In this episode, Dana Yaari talks with Federico Barreras, Humanitarian Programme Manager at GiveDirectly, the organization that delivered no-strings-attached cash to over 4,000 people ahead of the flood. Federico shares that they used Google’s Flood Hub to forecast the impact weeks in advance and what changed when communities were able to prepare before the crisis.

Federico explains how they remotely registered via basic phones, and why AI-backed only further prepared them with an edge over traditional models.

You’ll learn:

• How pre-registration helped release funds in under 48 hours
• Why accuracy in flood modeling matters for every dollar sent
• The personalized way that communities used the cash

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Welcome to Digital Humanitarian with Federico Barreras
(01:34) Anticipatory action & preparing communities before disasters
(02:42) How GiveDirectly used Google Flood Hub
(04:33) Pre-registration in enabling rapid cash transfers
(07:27) Why Flood Hub’s granularity matters compared to other tools
(10:27) Barriers to adoption and why organizations still don’t use predictive tech
(13:45) How 4,000 people used early cash to protect lives and assets
(19:14) Shifting the mindset from reaction to anticipation
(25:26) GiveDirectly’s pilot in Kenya against drought
(29:34) The future of anticipatory cash aid and government-level integration

Resources:

• Connect with Federico
• Learn more about GiveDirectly
• Connect with Dana
• Learn more about mondayERT

When historic floods overwhelmed Rio in 2024, civil society mobilized quickly, but tech coordination lagged, and someone needed to step in.

In this episode, Dana Yaari speaks with Dr. Caroline Vanzellotti and Dr. Olimar Teixeira Borges of Bonanza, a Brazil-based NGO that helped lead the local response. They recount the early days in Porto Alegre, when the streets were submerged for weeks.

Dr. Caroline explains how their team used WhatsApp, Airtable, and monday.com to organize supply flows and reconnect entire communities. While Dr. Olimar walks through the tools they tested, the ones that failed, and the ones that scaled across future disasters.

You’ll learn:

• How Bonanza tracked shelter inventory using dashboards
• Why training local volunteers helped speed up adoption
• What it takes to adapt a digital system after the storm ends

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Welcome to Digital Humanitarian, Dr. Caroline Vanzellotti and Dr. Olimar Teixeira Borges

(01:25) Millions displaced and no data coordination in place

(03:21) Spontaneous shelters with no central tracking system

(04:39) Matching aid to actual needs in real time

(06:30) Why WhatsApp failed during early response

(08:27) Building dashboards from scratch with volunteer tech

(09:45) Shifting from shelters to community recovery

(11:32) Collecting household-level data post-flood

(14:13) Why disaster tech must be pre-positioned

(18:06) Scaling tools for multilingual, low-bandwidth regions

Resources:

• Connect with Caroline
• Connect with Olimar
• Learn more about Bonanza
• Connect with Dana
• Learn more about mondayERT