Engaging Disaster Prone Communities; Pre-impact Media Blitzing

Recent research shows fire-prone residents and regional fire managers in SE Australia converge in wanting more local, detailed information available to the threatened, and that this does not happen in a vacuum. Communities in hazard zones need to be and feel engaged with the realities of their local threats, empowered and supported to act, maximising their own and their community’s safety. This paper shows that engaged, informed communities can be fostered through emerging use of the internet and Common Alert Protocols. More geographically targetted pre-impact media exposure about the likely extent and impacts of the threat is recommended.