disaster communications lessons from 2011 flood

Image source: http://www.dvidshub.net/image/475064/iii-mef-assess-flooding-thailand#.UMlJfuSR9gg

Communicating during disasters 4 mistakes and 5 lessons

Great Thailand Flood of 2011

Bajinder Pal Singhbajinder@hotmail.com www.bajinder.com

12th Indian Science Communication Congress 2012 , New Delhi

Image source: http://www.dvidshub.net/image/478683/thailand-hast#.UMlLNuSR9gg

Economic damage received a lot of attention

Image source: http://www.dvidshub.net/image/478677/thailand-hast

 815 deaths 14 million affectedLoss - 45.7 billion (WB)

A Thai worker looks at an aircraft parked in floodwaters at Don Muang airport in Bangkok on October 27, 2011. (Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/Getty Images. Image source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/thailand_flood_reaches_bangkok.html

Focus

Image source: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=76282

 Fourth largest disaster

A Thai rescue worker sits next to a crocodile caught in a flooded area in Ayutthaya province October 15, 2011. (Sukree Sukplang/Reuters) Image source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/thailand_flood_reaches_bangkok.html

Noise

A woman holds a toddler as she walks through floodwaters in an area near the Chao Praya river in Bangkok on October 29, 2011. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images) Source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/thailand_flood_reaches_bangkok.html

Lost….

A woman hangs onto a street sign in chest-deep water on October 24, 2011 in Rangsit on the outskirts of Bangkok. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) Source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/thailand_flood_reaches_bangkok.html#

Paucity of official updates

1

Image source: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/10/09/mapping-the-

thailand-flooding-disaster/

Lack of information in English

2

A Thai child carries a gas tank through floods in Rangsit district on the outskirts of Bangkok on October 21. Children make up around a quarter of the nearly 800 deaths the United Nations has tallied since July across Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines, which have been ravaged by some of the worst flooding in decades. Drownings are a huge unreported epidemic in Southeast Asia, killing an estimated 240,000 children up to 17 years old each year - mostly because the majority of kids in the region simply never learn to swim. (Aaron Favila/AP) Source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/thailand_flood_reaches_bangkok.html

Lack of information for target audience

2

Image source: http://womenlearnthai.com/index.php/karn-tv-cartoons-flooding-in-thailand/

Competing official and non official channels

3

Historical disbelief in a major flooding event

4

3

4

Vehicles at a Honda car factory are submerged in floodwaters in the Rojana industrial district in Ayutthaya province, central Thailand on October 16, 2011. (Sakchai Lalit/AP Image source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/thailand_flood_reaches_bangkok.html

A Thai boy holds aloft banknotes to keep them dry while he swims during the flood in Nonthaburi province, suburban Bangkok, on October 15, 2011. (Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/Getty Images) Image source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/thailand_flood_reaches_bangkok.html

Lessons

Vehicles at a Honda car factory are submerged in floodwaters in the Rojana industrial district in Ayutthaya province, central Thailand on October 16, 2011. (Sakchai Lalit/AP Image source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/thailand_flood_reaches_bangkok.html

Communication

Centralised System

Decentralised channels

1

http://www.cse.yorku.ca/course_archive/2012-13/F/2041/image/the-web-is-dead2.jpg

Backup

2

Image source: http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2011/11/07/social-media-use-soars-in-flood-hit-thailand/

Alternative Media

3

Mobile Telephony

Photo courtesy: TSF (P.S. image is not from flood, but during a postdisaster relief operation)

4

Source: http://www.imperialstlandry.org/telephonedirectories/1922/Opelousas%20Telephone%20Directory%201922%20-%2001.jpg

5

Source: http://www.imperialstlandry.org/telephonedirectories/1922/Opelousas%20Telephone%20Directory%201922%20-%2001.jpg

Missing

Source: http://www.imperialstlandry.org/telephonedirectories/1922/Opelousas%20Telephone%20Directory%201922%20-%2001.jpg

A man floats on a truck tire with supplies of beer as floods advance into central Bangkok on October 26, 2011. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters) Image source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/thailand_flood_reaches_bangkok.html

Image source: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2OT69RDPf4g/UJjiU-LZibI/AAAAAAAABcI/apofn76N7jU/s1600/thanks.jpg