As I write this, the remnants of Hurricane Florence are finally starting to move on. It is tracking through the Appalachians, and there are ongoing threats for flooding in that region as well as the Carolinas. Additionally, tornado warnings continue to be issued. Florence has been a multi-faceted disaster. I really wasn't planning to write anything this morning until I saw a report on The Weather Channel about the search for baby that was swept away by flood waters. According to news reports, the mother drove around a flood barrier in Union County, North Carolina. This story broke my heart as a parent. It also forced my hand to write because I observed several things that need to be different for the "next" Hurricane Florence (Note: I suspect the name Florence may be retired because of its impact).
Florence and cities being affected as seen from satellites.NOAA
Clearly, one thing that needs to change is how people perceive floodwaters. The "Turn Around, Don't Drown" slogan seems to ring hollow. As I monitored Florence, I saw video after video of trucks and cars plowing through flooded roads. In a previous discussion, psychologist and meteorologist Castle Williams, a doctoral student at the University of Georgia, told me:
I think flood messaging is a great parallel between my research on forgetting children in hot cars. When driving in a car, you have several memory systems at work. Therefore, even though these individuals may be receiving the flood message there are other factors that play into their final decision......Additionally, this idea that individuals often focus on getting to a safe, familiar place may override their risk perception of the water on the roadway. They may be trying to get to work or pick up a child, and those actions are prioritized in their minds.
The figure below shows road closures at one point on September 16th in North Carolina. There is a reason that they are closed folks.
Road closures on September 16th in North Carolina from Florence.NCDOT
I speculate that the public's familiarity with rain and water create a different "risk perception" for water. This brings me to the second thing that needs to change. The entire communication framework for how we talk about a threat like Hurricane Florence. If you go to social media as Florence unfolded in the early stages, you will see people saying things like "they overhyped this storm" or "it is not that bad." Are you kidding me? This event is now the worst rainfall disaster from a tropical cyclone in the history of both Carolinas, at least 17 people died, and at one point, nearly 1 million people were without power. Read more
Comments