Communicating a Surge of Information: How Do Individuals Understand, React, and Respond to Storm Surge Media Messages?

Sample

For those living directly on the coast, storm surge is the most dangerous, and potentially deadly, hurricane-related risk. During Hurricane Sandy in 2013, 40 deaths were directly attributed to flooding that occurred due to a dramatic slow rise of ocean surge. Beyond Sandy, storm surge has easily been one
of the most challenging risks to communicate over the last decade. Hurricanes Katrina (Knabb, Rhome, & Brown, 2005), Ike (Berg, 2009) and Isaac (Berg, 2013) all brought high surge levels that differed from their categorical wind strength. At landfall, Katrina was a category-3 storm, Ike a category-2 storm, and Isaac a category-1 storm. However, all boasted dramatic storm surges. In response to this disparity, after Hurricane Ike in 2008, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) started separating storm surge from hurricane wind category (NOAA, 2010) in its classification system because biophysical scientists realized that wind strength was not the sole cause of an intense storm surge. Rather, many contributing factors, such as wind, wave action, astronomical tide, and bathymetry of the coastline contribute to the height of the surge. NHC determined that hurricane category, which is used to describe wind strength, was confusing public audiences’ understanding of storm surge, as the surge amount is not associated solely with category (NHC, 2012; NOAA, 2010). Based on this re-categorization, two challenges face those tasked with communicating hurricane-related risk.1 First, communicators must ensure that public audiences consider storm surge as a risk distinct from, and not explicitly communicated by, hurricane category. Second, communicators must determine how to convey storm surge risk so that the impacted populations will understand the nature of their personal risk.