STORM SHELTER. Airbnb and NYC team up to help storm victims find free temporary housing.

MANILA, Philippines - Residents of the East Coast who’ve lost their homes due to Hurricane Sandy are still struggling to find a place to stay, even as a second storm strikes New York and New Jersey.

With the help of the New York local government and peer-to-peer house sharing service Airbnb, however, more assistance is now available to victims of the storm.

CNET reports that New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg entered a partnership with Airbnb on Wednesday morning, November 7, to connect people with places to stay and those in need of free temporary housing.

According to one of Airbnb’s blog posts on the partnership, the service is “now enabling people to offer space to those in need - absolutely free. People who wish to share their space at no cost to guests can sign up immediately.”

Airbnb will recoup no fees for the free listings, saying that the service wants all “to come together to share with those in need.” - Rappler.com