Communication and disaster: Challenges and needs associated with three types of disasters

The term “disaster” typically is used to describe situations involving large numbers of injuries, deaths, and/or property losses. Substantial literature has addressed responses to rapidly occurring natural disasters (e.g., resulting from earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis). However, experts increasingly recognize that not all disasters are alike, and thus, what constitutes effective communication responses may differ. For example, disasters may occur, not only due to natural causes, but due to engineering and/or structural failure (e.g., a stadium collapse), intentional attempts to terrorize populations (e.g., anthrax, dirty bombs), and failure to manage technological/environmental impact of industry and industrial waste. We commonly think of disasters as naturally- and rapidly-occurring. However, disasters also can result from intentional efforts to terrorize a population or from the failure to adequately address risks associated with environmental hazards. Likewise, “slow-motion disasters” can occur when the impact of an environmental/toxic hazard is in dispute and its effects play out over decades and across geographic venues (beyond the original contamination site). What disasters have in common is that a community and sometimes larger population may be affected or at risk and communication strategies can play a critical role in facilitating timely and effective short- and longer-term responses (including preventive) and facilitating individual and community/population-level coping. The proposed panel will identify and illustrate the communication challenges associated with three types of disasters. Speakers include an academic researcher with expertise in disaster communication and experts with professional experience in communication responses to natural disasters, intended disasters, and slow-motion technological disasters.