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During historic cold weather events, massive infrastructure failures can leave people without water for days. Government agencies, such as city utilities, distribute disaster-preparedness information to help the public understand and mitigate potential risks. Individuals must take a proactive approach to better prepare for extreme cold weather events, and limited research exists on the specific factors that motivate people to prepare for extreme cold weather. This study investigated ways to improve individual disaster preparedness by focusing on message effectiveness, risk perception, and trust in different sources. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze survey data from 405 residents in two Texas cities. The SEM employed combined and comparative approaches to identify general patterns and context-specific water infrastructure preparedness strategies. Results indicated that effective messaging, heightened risk perception, and trust in informants are crucial to enhancing disaster preparedness, and they operate differently depending on whether people are preparing their homes before or during an extreme cold event. Differences between the models for each city suggest that tailored strategies are necessary for different communities. The findings in this study can provide valuable insights for local government, utilities, and individuals to improve risk communication and disaster preparedness.
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An exercise in disaster: Does policy learning occur after a tabletop crisis scenario?
It is well‐established that experience with a disaster can heighten risk perception, initiate policy learning, and ultimately enhance preparedness and mitigation. This experience can make stakeholders more amenable to mitigating risk, but disasters are sporadic, dangerous, and costly. At the same time, the importance of differences in epistemic communities that manage public agencies and departments has received little attention in the context of policy learning, preparedness, and mitigation. This study investigates whether it is possible for simulated disasters, such as tabletop exercises, to influence risk perception and encourage learning in a way that is consistent with the effects of experiencing an actual disaster. To test this idea, we analyze survey data collected from an Environmental Protection Agency workshop of drinking water officials and public health stakeholders from southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio, including Detroit, Flint, and Toledo. A pre and posttest survey captured participants' beliefs before and after a tabletop exercise designed to simulate a large‐scale drinking water disaster. Results suggest that epistemic communities matter in these exercises but professional experience is less important than what previous studies have shown about experience with a policy problem and policy learning.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1832692
- PAR ID:
- 10381223
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy
- ISSN:
- 1944-4079
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12256
