Mind the gap: Contrasting operational and behavior-oriented flood warnings

Abstract

During flood events, warnings issued by emergency service agencies serve to communicate risk and guide community behavior. Yet research shows that while warnings convey operational details, they may not always be understood and appropriately actioned in a timely manner by the public. Such maladaptive behavior can place multiple parties at risk of injury and fatality. Few studies empirically consider and compare the effectiveness of traditional agency-designed operational warnings with other designs such as behavior-oriented warnings. The former typically contain technical and operational detail while the latter provide immediate priority and greater emphasis on translating the situation into specific behavioral actions to be undertaken by the public. Using operational versus newly developed behavior-oriented warnings from New South Wales State Emergency Service in Australia, a total of 774 community members rated each type of scaled warning and their likelihood to engage in adaptive and maladaptive behaviors following exposure to warnings designed to convey one of five levels of an unfolding flooding scenario from its beginning to conclusion (‘Prepare for flooding’, ‘Be ready to evacuate’, ‘Evacuate’, ‘Too late to evacuate’ and ‘Safe to return’). Findings showed positive response to both types of warnings, with behavior-oriented warnings offering greater benefit for perception factors (e.g., risk and comprehension) and adaptive behavioral intentions.