Through its Disaster Response Program, Airbnb is helping people displaced by Hurricane Matthew in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina find free housing from participating Airbnb hosts.
During a disaster, Airbnb emails information to hosts near the affected areas about how to offer free housing for displaced people and relief workers. Airbnb waives rental fees for hosts who do so.
The program was inspired by a grass-roots effort in 2012, when more than 1,000 Airbnb hosts in New York opened their homes to people displaced by Superstorm Sandy.
In addition, through the program the company has sent hurricane preparedness information to more than 100,000 Airbnb hosts in high-risk regions in the United States.