A local lens on risk communication about severe weather

Wireless emergency alerts are short and terse messages (Sutton, League, Sellnow, & Sellnow, 2015), designed to inform people of imminent natural hazards and direct them to take protective action (Bean et al., 2016; Gutteling, Terpstra, & Kerstholt, 2018). These short-form messages can be used at any time during the crisis management process from signalling a possible hazard or emergency through to recovery (Bean et al., 2016). To date, most studies of wireless alerts occur in the United States or Europe and examine the provision of immediate protective actions (e.g., Bean et al., 2016), or post-event evaluation of issued alerts for real events (e.g., Gutteling, Terpstra, & Kerstholt, 2018), and false alarms (DeYoung et al., 2019). These studies examine content about source, guidance, hazard, location and time (Bean et al., 2016; Gutteling et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2017), and images such as maps (Liu et al., 2017). Wireless alert messages have resulted in many tangible benefits. For example, flash flood alerts can reduce car accidents and traffic volume, which in turn, limits exposure to risks during natural hazard emergencies (Ferris & Newburn, 2017). Although alerts can be issued at any time in a crisis management process, there is opportunity to consider the structure and effectiveness of wireless alerts issued at the early warning stage of a hazard when urgent reactions may not be required. In addition, beyond the use of maps, there is little insight into how other types of icons or images can be used to gain and maintain attention of communities during the early stages of possible severe weather. To explore these gaps, this study adopted a mental models and co-design methodology (Lazrus et al., 2016). Six interviews with disaster and flood management experts were conducted followed by six focus groups with 40 public participants covering severe weather, creek, and tidal flooding. Mental models interviews and three focus groups reviewed risk perception, risk as feelings, and protective action intentions alongside the response to existing messages issued by the Brisbane City Council, the primary response agency during wet weather events in Brisbane. The remaining three focus groups applied a design thinking lens to examine how participants experienced and responded to weather events. Findings show that present early warning alerts are triggered by and based on content from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) and do not always include contain guidance that could support community members and Brisbane City Council (BCC) in its role in disaster preparedness and response. Public participants noted the multiple sources (e.g., BoM, QFES, and BCC) and sought specific content around location and timing. The research outcome for the work is to provide an evidence base that supports early warning alerts that are deemed to be effective, lead the community to undertake the intended protective actions, and support trust between the community and Brisbane City Council.