Airbnb Expands Open Homes Program after Hurricane Michael

Airbnb has substantially expanded the activation zone for its Open Homes Program to aid residents of the Southeast forced to evacuate from their homes in connection with Hurricane Michael, as well as relief workers arriving to provide aid.

In the event of major emergencies like Michael, Airbnb's Disaster Response and Relief Team activates its host communities through the Open Homes program to support neighbors helping neighbors.

The Open Homes platform allows residents who have been displaced -- as well as emergency relief workers and volunteers who are coming in to assist -- to find temporary accommodations with local hosts who are opening their homes free of charge.

With Hurricane Michael having now been downgraded to a tropical storm, the program’s focus will evolve to housing those whose homes have been damaged as well as relief workers heading to Bay County to help rebuild.

As such, the activation zone now includes three new states -- Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina -- and has been expanded to include all of Georgia and most of Alabama and Florida.

The activation zone has been expanded as close to Bay County and Florida’s western coastal communities as possible to help meet accommodation needs near these affected communities.

These $0 listings are available until October 29, 2018. As the need becomes more apparent after landfall, Airbnb will continue to expand the territory of Open Homes listings if and where needed, or as requested by local officials.

Airbnb remains in close contact with emergency management officials in Florida, Alabama and Georgia, and has begun outreach to officials in North Carolina and South Carolina.

The idea for Airbnb’s disaster relief program began in 2012 in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and has since grown into a global disaster response initiative that makes it easy for Airbnb hosts to provide space for people in need when disasters strike.

To date, the disaster response and relief team has responded to over 250 disasters worldwide, including most recently Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Gordon.

Airbnb has contacted all of its hosts within the 3-state activation zone to inform them of the Disaster Response activation and encourage them to take part in the program if they are in a position to help.

Source: Florida Trends