Communicating Resilience

Abstract

This chapter explores the importance of understanding how social aspects like communication and social capital impact community resilience and infl uence the various public, private, and non-profi t agencies that respond to crises. It also explores the perceptions of emergency management personnel in communicating with the public during a disaster situation. Keywords IntroductionEffective communication is important during each phase of emergency management. In the mitigation and preparedness phases, communication helps to exchange and confi rm information and efforts to be prepared by appropriate stakeholders and organizations prior to an event. During the response and recovery phases, effective communication helps people do the right thing during and after a disaster so they have the best bet of surviving with as little loss as possible. However, communication is not effective in these phases unless it is a two-way process to have input and participation from both the sender and receiver of information. Effective communication has a multitude of components to work in all four phases of emergency management. First and foremost, effective communication requires active listening to ensure understanding of the message and to respond appropriately to the information which could save lives. Of course, to ensure your audience is effectively listening, the speaker must recognize the audience and tailor the message for understanding. Knowing who the audience is in a situation can not only enable the speaker to adjust the message, but also his/her posture, demeanor, and body language for even better message sending. Unfortunately, the decision makers and media did not fully grasp these communication techniques during the 2004 hurricane season in Florida which caused an epidemic of complacency. Complacency: First Hand Experience Florida Hurricane Season 2004During the 2004 Hurricane Season, four hurricanes appeared within about a month timeframe from each other: Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. Charley directly affect affected the Western coasts of Florida where it caused power outages, destructions of buildings, and about two dozen deaths. Frances was a Category 4 and caused severe damage to eastern Florida counties leaving millions without electricity. Ivan mostly hit the panhandle while Jeanne weaken over Florida but still caused several million in damage and left millions without electricity. These same four hurricanes, in addition to a multitude of severe tropical storms of that season, devastated the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Haiti. These islands were fl ooded, had major infrastructure destroyed, and no power for exceptionally long periods of time. In Florida, infrastructure is built with better materials to endure more havoc and emergency response and management received far more funding then the island neighbors to the south of Florida. Florida is accustomed to hurricanes. In fact, when there were hurricanes, several families would invite families or neighbors over for hurricane parties. People stocked up...

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