In this era of mass social media communications, how do communities and stakeholders generate and exchange information on disasters caused by natural hazards? It is clear that online social media messaging is now a central form of disaster communication.

This study by scholars from Griffith University (Australia) and Hong Kong Polytechnic University specifically examines the social media response to the first bushfire event of the season that destroyed a major tourism icon, the Binna Burra Lodge, and the subsequent wide-scale Australian Black Summer fires of 2019/2020.

It notes how the response to, and communication around, the event was critical in the recovery phase. The research presents a new model based on Twitter posts and VADER algorithms to analyse social media discourse during and following the bushfire event.