PrintChallenges with Communicating Emergency Plans
It is easy to recognize the importance of communicating emergency plans to the public, but many problems can occur in the process. In reality, when emergency information is sent out by a city or state governmental entity, some people will not receive this information, or they may not respond appropriately to it. For example, if the information is broadcast only in English, then non-English speakers in the United States may not fully understand the messages. Poor households in developing countries may not have radios, televisions, smartphones, or other devices needed to receive the information.
Due to many factors (cultural, language, economic, psychological, and social), some people who do receive and understand the government’s communications will choose not to heed warnings and follow instructions given by the government. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, many long-time New Orleans residents chose to stay in New Orleans despite dire evacuation warnings. Among many reasons used for not evacuating, some included: financial constraints on their ability to evacuate the city (typically lack of transportation and no funds for traveling); frequency of hurricane evacuation warnings in recent years (evacuation fatigue); misconceptions about the severity of the storm; perceptions that they were not vulnerable to hurricane risks; worries about leaving pets; and concerns about the need to protect their property from criminal activity.
In many communities in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world, cross-cultural communication has been adopted to ensure all residents receive important messages for preparation for hazardous events. Cross-cultural communication recognizes the diversity of target populations in terms of language and culture, and emergency managers must take these factors into account so that messages are broadcast in the multiple languages spoken in the community in question. Using multiple media platforms and methods for disseminating messages is also essential. The technology available to many people such as texting and social media has helped greatly in recent years. Traditional media like television, radio, newspapers, the Internet, and printed flyers are still important, but other ways of communicating, such as through multiple social media platforms, have become more and more important. Modern communication tends to depend heavily on the mobile or cellular telephone network. In cyclone and tsunami conditions, communication towers can be toppled and rendered useless. In 2005, when cellphone use was common, but texting was less common, loss of communication was an enormous problem across the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, rendering cellphones useless and greatly hampering search and rescue and preventing people from locating loved ones.
Learning Check Point
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