Actionable Information in Flood Risk Communications and the Potential for New Web-Based Tools for Long-Term Planning for Individuals and Community

Abstract

Because of its ubiquitous nature and catastrophic impacts, flood information should be readily available and continually evaluated, to maximize utility for the public and professionals. Web-based tools can fill existing needs for actionable information to inform decisions regarding flood damage mitigation for new and existing structures. The goal of this research is to identify the current capabilities, gaps, and future demands of Web-based flood communication systems. To understand the current and potential niche of Web-based flood tools, a review of the literature concerning the effectiveness of mass media, grassroots-based “citizen science” efforts, and social media in communicating flood risk is conducted. Then, the strengths of 50 major, freely-available, Web-based flood information portals are reviewed. Results suggest that mass media often provide actionable information, especially for short-term benefit immediately before, during, and immediately after the flood for individuals and community leaders. Citizen science and grassroots efforts encourage planning strategies to prevent or mitigate flood. Social media is most beneficial in raising awareness of the flood hazard and communicating short- and long-term mitigation and adaptation strategies. However, while mass media, citizen science, and social media have revolutionized the way that people plan for, survive, and recover from floods, their utility is largely restricted to addressing short-term information needs at the meso-scale or broader and/or conveying information about singular events to scientists and/or other professional interests. Actionable information to inform long-term planning and mitigating flood, for both the public and community leaders, remains lacking. A particular need is for communication mechanisms that satisfy several criteria simultaneously: wide broadcast, appealing delivery method, and focus on enhancing decision-making for long-term needs rather than solely for short-term benefit. Particularly useful would be a new, webtool that provides sufficient functionality to enhance flood risk reduction decision making, considering both the costs and benefits of mitigation.

Future crop risk estimation due to drought, extreme temperature, hail, lightning, and tornado at the census tract level in Louisiana

“…The first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report (Cutter et al, 2012) confirmed these assertions by reporting that societal exposure (and therefore risk as defined here) is a product of development processes on hazardous landscapes and also is an anticipated key driving force contributing to future vulnerability to extreme weather events (Pielke Sr et al, 2007;Hinkel et al, 2010). There remains a paucity of risk assessment work at a scale more local than countylevel, especially while also considering changing hazard intensities (Gnan et al, 2022a(Gnan et al, , 2022bMostafiz et al, 2022b, Mostafiz et al, 2022Rahim et al, 2022).…”

Freeboard Life-Cycle Benefit-Cost Analysis of a Rental Single-family Residence for Landlord, Tenant, and Insurer

“…With no comprehensive flood risk assessment that quantifies flood losses and provides actionable information (Mostafiz et al, 2022c), landlords and tenants are unlikely to be aware of flood risk to which they are exposed and the possible benefits from mitigation measures. Being aware of the full flood risk, mitigation options, and economic implications enhances investment and occupation decisions.…”

Social Media Analytics by Virtual Operations Support Teams in disaster management: Situational awareness and actionable information for decision-makers

“…We draw on Zade et al (2018), to define and delineate actionable information, which they define as information on which decision-makers need to respond and decide. In our work we especially apply short-term actionable information as defined by Mostafiz et al (2022), because we address the issue of immediate response with flood hazards. Mostafiz et al (2022) understand long-term actionable information as information that can help coping with hazards in the preparation or recovery phase.…”

“…In our work we especially apply short-term actionable information as defined by Mostafiz et al (2022), because we address the issue of immediate response with flood hazards. Mostafiz et al (2022) understand long-term actionable information as information that can help coping with hazards in the preparation or recovery phase. Especially concerning short-term actionable information, producing the right information to the right decision-makers at the right time helps members of an EOC overcome multiple challenges such as limited resources in SMA, and information overload in a timeand safety-critical work environment.…”

“…The high level of agreement indicates that the perceptions of decision-makers at the EOC have been positively impacted. The second part of the survey focused on decision-making based on short-term actionable information (Mostafiz et al, 2022). Decision-making based on actionable information requires that information reaches the right decision-maker in the EOC at the right time and that the decision-maker comprehends it (Zade et al, 2018).…”