by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:18 PM ET, Thu October 6, 2016
In response to the approaching Hurricane Matthew, online vacation rental company Airbnb is helping people looking for a place to stay by offering free accommodations in Florida and South Carolina.
According to Airbnb's official website, the company has activated its Disaster Response Tool in order to help people who need a place to stay due to the mandatory evacuations. The tool will connect people in need with Airbnb hosts who are opening their homes to evacuees for no charge.
Officials from Airbnb are looking for more hosts who are out of the path of the storm and would be willing to list their home for free in order to help people evacuating areas in Hurricane Matthew's path over the next several days.
New Airbnb users are being welcomed to sign up via the company's Disaster Response Tool in order to meet the demand. In addition to Airbnb, Visit Florida and Expedia have also listed open hotels willing to serve evacuees.
This is not the first time Airbnb has used its Disaster Response Tool, as the company also helped people following the devastation from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This is the first time the tool has been activated before a storm, though.
For more information on the Airbnb Disaster Response Tool, check out the online vacation rental company's official website.
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