Topic 7 - Warnings and How People Respond Flashcards
What is Public Alerting?
- Getting an urgent, usually life threatening message out to the public, that offers suggestions on what to do.
- Goal is to save lives
What are the 4 separate phases of Public Alerting?
- ) What is the Message to be delivered
- ) Infrastructure in place
- ) Distribution of the message
- ) Letting the people know what they need to do
Where is Public Alerting headed in the future? (3 things)
- ) Expand amber alerts via email
- ) Broadcast intrusive message to people via text message without any subscription
- ) 2-Way communication via social media
What are 2 ways that Environment Canada monitors weather, and collects data?
- ) Weather Radar - short term predictions of severe weather. Collect, process, and transmit data
- ) Lightning Detection Sensors - detects cloud to ground lightning strikes and runs 24/7
What is Alberta Environment’s Flow Forecasting?
- Monitoring of water levels and flow, snow conditions, and weather
- Water levels are monitored on a continuous basis
- App for it to track data collection
What is the Japan’s Early Warning System?
- Earthquake early warning system, that analyzes P-waves that are slower than S-waves, the waves that cause damage. They send out a mass warning alerting people of the earthquake
What % of emergency managers said they would always warn the public after the National Weather Service first issues a tornado warning?
- Only 60% said they would
What are some reasons you might want to consider NOT to issue a warning?
- ) False Alarms - repeated false alarms may decrease response
- ) Concerns about panic
- ) Warning Timing - too early may cause them not to react in the way you want them to
- ) Too many warnings - people become complacent
What is the difference between a Weather Watch and a Weather Warning?
- Weather watch: conditions are favourable for a possible storm, uncertainty about strength and area could be affected, watch for information, start to plan.
- Weather Warning: Severe weather is occurring, or will occur, put plants into action
What 5 things should be included in Framing the Warning?
- ) Nature of the hazard
- ) Risk
- ) Affected area
- ) Recommended protective actions
- ) Additional information
What are the 2 types of alerts in Alberta’s Emergency Alert system and what do they mean?
- ) Information Alert - be aware and prepared (more general)
- ) Critical Alert - imminent life threatening danger
What was found in a survey that studied the effectiveness of scar warning messages?
- Non Scary warnings were perceived as being more credible than the scary warnings
What were the areas of focus in Perrault and Colleague’s Findings?
- ) Tornado experience
- ) Credibility of warning messages
- ) Follow directions for seeking safe shelter or evacuation
- ) Length of messages
- ) Televised vs. Radio messages
What did K. Smith say was important for Disseminating a Warning?
- The effectiveness of a forecasting and warning system depends on the translation of the forecast into a warning… an understanding of the social setting is as important as the accuracy of the scientific information if the community responses are to be optimal
In the case of short lead time hazards (flash floods) what information sources, warning methods, and demogrphic factors should be considered:
- Information sources - environmental cues, local radio, weather channel
- Warning Methods - sirens, TV
Demographic Factors - Age, education, ethnicity
What 3 things should be considered when considering Education, Testing, and Evaluation?
- ) How they will be warned
- ) What the warnings mean
- ) Where to get more information
What is U of A Alerts?
- Emergency notifications when we need to inform you of an urgent event that requires you to act
How does U of A Alerts communicate emergency notifications?
- UAlberta App
- Fire Panels
- Alertus Beacons
- Alertus Desktop
- Twitter & Facebook
- SMS
- You
What are the 2 actions of what U of A Alerts communicates?
- ) Urgent notification
2. ) Updates & Additional Information
What is the Notification Development Team?
- 1 activation system that triggers 6 notification delivery modes
- Team regularly explores improvements and trends, has regular drills, templates for alert messages, established protocol
What has been observed in the last 5 years by U of A Alerts?
- People expect to be informed
- If it happens on campus - people want to know details
- The alert is expected to be timely and of value
- People are more likely to look to social media for information - if we don’t provide it, they will seek it
- People want to help - they are willing to retweet if they think it’s important
- People are mobile - moving across campus, to and from campus
- People want to know if an emergency impacts their classes
- People want to know if friends, classmates, students & colleagues are safe
What are some trends, observed by U of A Alerts?
- Mobile alerts with emergency tone
- Digital signage
- Notification banners on faculty & department websites
- “Trusted reporters” sharing the alerts
- New relationship from passive to interactive - helping responders understand the event - sharing of photos and eyewitness reports
- Increasing expectations of emergency notifications
What might U of A alerts looks like in the future?
- Alertus desktop on your laptop and tablet
- Push of alerts within geographical locations
- Smart watches to alert you
- Digital signage and television screens
- Partnerships - eg. ETS bus & LRT signs; scoreboards
What are the 4 components of crafting a notification?
- ) ACTION - what you should do
- ) TIME - when did we issue this message?
- ) EVENT - what is / has happened?
- ) RESPONSE - who is responding - fire, police, ambulance, UAPS
What is the 7 Step Warning Process? (Sorensen & Sorensen)
- ) Receive
- ) Understand
- ) Believe
- ) Personalize
- ) Confirm
- ) Decide what to do
- ) Take Action
How did people respond to two successive tornado warnings?
- Only half took protective action on the 2nd tornado
What was the general Evacuation Response in Bangladesh from the cyclone in 2007?
- 67% did not evacuate their home after being told to
- Said shelters were full, not close enough, not safe
- Some said they did not receive the warning or did not believe the warning to be true
What is Evacuation Shadow?
- When people decide to evacuate outside of the designated evacuation zone.
What are 3 factors contributing to evacuation?
- ) Previous experience to evacuation
- ) Gender
- ) Ethnicity
What is Sheltering in Place?
This is a precaution aimed to keep you safe while remaining indoors. (This is not the same thing as going to a shelter in case of a storm.) Shelter-in-place means selecting a small, interior room, with no or few windows, and taking refuge there.
What happened in the Arkansas organophosphate pesticide accident?
- Only 27% of those told to shelter in place did so
What are 4 factors influencing Sheltering in Place?
- ) Information
- ) Less Familiar
- ) Perceived effectiveness
- ) Urge to flee
People may evacuate …
early, late, when asked, or not at all