Expanding Efforts to Understand, Connect with, and Educate Flood-Prone Communities about Flood Forecasts

Though flood forecasting has improved over the past decades, flooding impacts are still significant for many flood-prone areas. Challenges in communicating risk relate to dissemination and understanding of the flood forecast information. While the National Weather Service (NWS) is a trusted source of this information, the range of cultural and social dynamics, economic resources, and communication capacities communities have can affect the value of NWS products. To identify what methods and information are needed to communicate across a spectrum of users, this study centered on the needs for flood forecast information and identified barriers and opportunities that exist for improving communication of flood forecasts for a range of audiences to broaden understanding. Using a mixed-methods social science approach involving community data to assess vulnerabilities, partnerships with local community-based organizations, interviews, focus groups, and surveys, this study explored which forecast products communities rely upon, what information gaps exist, and what barriers prevent access and understanding of critical information. Findings help with understanding the range of flood information needs; how users prefer to receive information; and how existing flood forecast products help with decision-making. While each community had distinct flooding situations and needs, findings relate to the need for education, localized information such as place names in products, clear and consistent communication of impacts and actions, and improved accessibility accounting for a range of information channels [e.g., both television (TV) and social media]. These common findings are broadly applicable for the spectrum of flood situations and communities found across the United States

Flood myth · Information Dissemination · National weather service · River flood · Social media · Disaster Management and Resilience · Flood Risk Assessment and Management · Nursing Education, Practice, and Leadership