Disaster Warning and Communication Processes in Two Communities

This paper is based on a study of disaster warning in the communities of Crescent City, California and Hilo, Hawaii, both of which have had a history of tsunami threats and warnings. Disaster warning is viewed in the paper as a process consisting of a number of interrelated activities and procedures in which a variety of organizations and individuals become involved. The study indicates that local officials such as those in Crescent City and Hilo are responsible for evaluating incoming information concerning potentially disruptive environmental changes and for determining if a public warning is to be issued. Among the problems that local officials may face while attempting to meet such responsibilities is the lack of adequate information on which to base critical decisions and the difficulty of maintaining public willingness to comply with requests for evacuation when there have been repeated alerts not followed by disaster. Although both the communities in the study have undergone major tsunami disasters, the data show that this has been followed by significant change and improvement in warning procedures chiefly in Hilo. For example, evacuation areas have been predetermined in Hilo and a variety of mechanisms for transmitting tsunami warning signals and information to the public have been devised. These changes came about largely because local officials in Hilo received considerable feedback from scientific experts and others regarding the kinds of improvements needed in the community's warning system. Such a feedback process did not develop in Crescent City following the major tsunami disaster in that community and thus less change occurred in it5 warning procedures.