Date: 03/20/18

To: Director of Public Communications, (NOAA)

From: Connor Higgins
Subject: Increasing the effectiveness of communicating storm warnings to the public through
mobile devices
Reference: An attempt to reduce casualties and damage to the public from storms
Action Required: Requesting response either for or against the proposition by June 1, 2018
Distribution List: Storm Warning Team, PR Team

Storms have always been devastating, uncontrollable, and unpredictable. since the beginning Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"
of time. Storms have influenced many regions by how they have affected those areas. Many
cultures, groups, and societies have been altered forever due to storms. In the past, it has
always seemed as if these natural disasters came out of nowhere and can affect anyone at any
time. In modern times, we now have access to high precision instruments, satellites, and
communication. In addition, we also have developed an extensive understanding of tendencies
of storms and the science behind them. While it is difficult for us to fully understand storms,
they can be closely monitored and measured. With this new technology, there is no excuse for
the world to not be better prepared for storms moving forward in comparison to the past.
The primary concern expressed in this proposal is the safety of the public. The main catalyst for
this proposal is in response to the disastrous effects of the hurricanes in 2017. When it comes
to storm warnings, it is important to properly communicate just how severe a storm can be.
Technology has been the standard for distributing storm warnings for the past few decades.
With new devices and platforms being constantly released, updated, and improved, the
opportunities to improve our storm warnings have been increased. Our strides made with the
Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) developed by the UN displayed many fruitful investments
being implemented successfully in many countries (UNISDR, n.d.). In the ten years that the HFA
mindset pushed forward the advancement of disaster risk reduction (DDR), we not only saw
how important it was to improve upon our current DDR plans, but also how much more we
could do. This proposal aims to continue that mindset of constant improvement with a focus on
more effectively communicating the risk of danger from storms to the public.
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Summary
The current rapid improvement of technology in the U.S. has led to more and more
citizens becoming reliant on their phones as their primary source of information. With this new
technology being connected to every possible news source, the possibilities of improving storm
warnings are greater than ever before. A major issue that has only become more prevalent in
today’s culture is the number of things that desire people’s attention. This means that
important weather alerts must fight even more to be noticed by the public. While there are
some weather alerts in place, they are not nearly as effective as they need to be. The current
alert system fails to capture people’s attention and give them the information they need. To fix
this problem, the alert system must be improved in many ways.
More effort needs to be put in extending the features of the current Wireless Emergency Alerts Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"
(WEA) system and giving it the ability to achieve its goal of informing the public of danger in
their area. Since the WEA system was implemented, citizens have been able to be warned of
danger no matter where they are or what they are doing. This system is not foolproof,
however, and other alternatives should be considered. Other social media platforms, news
sites, service providers, and mobile operating systems could all have storm warning apps or
services that could increase the chances of the public being made aware of the current
situation they are in. These outlets could serve useful in giving people the information
necessary to make an educated decision on what to do. To ensure that people are given the
correct information they need, people need to be convinced that they are in actual danger.
Messages are often ignored or not taken as seriously as they should be. If messages are not
given the level of attention they should by the public, response times become much slower and
could result in people being caught off guard and even in danger that could have been avoided.
These problems must be addressed if the goal of keeping our citizens safe is to be achieved.

Communication Issues
A very important thing to consider is the way storm warnings are communicated to the public. Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"
In the past, sources of media were limited. Radios used to be the sole source of information
spreading. After the radio came television and the news. These forms of communication proved
to be the most effective way of spreading information due to the amount of people relying on
those technologies for their primary source of current information. Nowadays, tThere has been
a recent decline of people who use television and the news as their prime source of
information. The development of the internet has split the focus of people to many different
media sources. Mobile devices with different apps and different websites that contain news
and connection the public now serve as many people’s source of news.

Problems with the Current Alert System

We have already seen results from the WEA system prove to be successful is some areas, but Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"
this system could be vastly improved. With there being so many apps, messages, and updates
on people’s phones, a WEA message does not garner quite as much attention as it did years
ago. Nowadays, nNotifications on phones have now become so common, that an automated
alert with an impersonal message of a potential danger rarely proves to be an effective way to
communicate a threat. The whole purpose of WEA is to alert and inform a person that they are
in danger and further precautions should be taken. The WEA system should be improved to be
able to communicate properly to the public exactly what kind of danger they are in and how
they should respond to the situation.
A study performed by DeeDee Bennett, Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska Omaha found that
many WEA proved to be ineffective in communicating a threat to the receiver. Bennett found
that many older and/or disabled citizens had very little knowledge of the WEA system. Bennett
found that over half the survey participants were not previously aware that the WEA existed.
Bennett also found that the geo targeting that decided who should receive a WEA proved to be
inaccurate. Many participants described the WEA system to be limited. Over two thirds of the
participants liked the idea of adding maps displaying danger areas. Other suggestions were
adding links to sources for further information. Participants did like, however, that these
messages were immediate and convenient to read. With almost every citizen now carrying
phones, these alerts are the first and most effective form of disaster warnings.

Extending Warnings to Other Platforms

A change that could be made is in the way that these apps and websites are connected to storm Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"
warnings. Many times, on radio broadcasts and television programs, while there were storms
going on, an update of storms in people’s areas would take precedent over what the people
were listening to or watching. This ensured that the citizens would pay attention and receive
the important warnings instead of ignoring them. When these messages properly reach the
intended people, they are given the chance to properly asses their situation and determine
whether they should take any precautions. Now that modern culture has spread out their
information distribution to many other sources, there should be a similar plan of action carried
out upon the many social apps and websites that are responsible for people’s source of
information. Most apps and websites can easily monitor people’s location. Using this
technology, people can be warned of storms in their area by integrating a sort of storm warning
override message across many different sources.
This type of branching out to other media sources would require coordination with, and the
approval of other companies to allow us to work together with them to develop a safer and
more effective warning system. Smartphone users have access to many news outlets, social
medias, and features that can be utilized for improving the spread of storms warnings.
Cooperation with Android, Apple, Windows, and other mobile platforms can allow for a
universal system of spreading important information to citizens. News sources who have their
own apps, social media platforms, and even system basic apps can be used to send out detailed
alerts to their users. These notifications can be more detailed and linked to well laid out sources
of information than just regular text messages sent out by the WEA system. With this new
initiative of extending storm warnings to more platforms, the chances of people being properly
informed of danger more reliably and effectively.

Properly Conveying the Current Level of Danger

Successfully communicating the actual danger to the public is a crucial part of a warningkey if Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"
any level of results is desired to be achieved. An issue with communicating the level of danger
to people is not just getting people’s attention, but also in the communication of severity.
Nowadays, oOnline information can tend to seem untrustworthy or unrealistic. The large
number of pictures and news of storms around the world and the numerous reports of deaths
may negatively affect those who hear it. They can be desensitized when they get a storm
warning because it may just come off as another “the chances of that affecting me are too little
for me to care” type attitude, which is dangerous. The communication of severity must be
taken more seriously if people are to ever respond to storms warnings with the proper
attention and consideration.

Conclusion
 Storm warnings have always been important, but never as effective as they should be.
The safety of the people will always be of the highest concern. With mobile phones giving
people access to communication and updates at every time of the day, regardless of current
activity or location, there is more ways than every to communicate to citizens storm warning
that are more detailed and personalized than ever before. With these new opportunities to
communicate to the public, there are many solutions that can be implemented. There is no
longer an excuse or barrier preventing proper storm warning to the public. Technology has
given us many different tools and services that could be used to improve the lives and safety of
others. With the storm warning system improved, America and other countries can become
more prepared for storms and natural disasters than ever before.

Recommendations
There should be mMore features need to be developed and implemented into the WEA
system such as links to more in depth sources, pictures describing the area of danger, more
provide detailed information, and standardized message distribution. Partnership and
cooperation with other companies that have applications or services tied to mobile phones is
necessary to could also contribute to providing the public with necessary detailed information
and updates. To prevent people from ignoring warning messages and not taking them seriously,
they need to beshould be more obvious and visible on their devices. Notifications should
happen more than once per warning. If a warning comes from multiple different sources, a
person is more likely to respond to the message by looking into it further and considering
possibilities (Bennett, 2015). In every message that is sent out, there needs to beshould be a
clear depiction of just how concerned a person who is reading the message should be. All these
changes will go a long way towards making a safer environment for our fellow citizens.
 References
Bennett, DeeDee M. “Gaps in Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) Effectiveness.” Unomaha.edu,
University of Nebraska Omaha, Jan. 2015,
digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1078&context=pubadfacpub

UNISDR. “Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA).” Unisdr.org, www.unisdr.org/we/coordinate/hfa.