COMMUNICATING DURING DISASTERS INSIGHTS FROM THE 2013 BUNDABERG FLOOD Amisha Mehta and Dominique A. Greer Chapter objectives ‘This ehaptr aims to: ‘ define and establish the significance and outcomes of risk communication ‘discuss the role of risk communication actoss crisis and disaster phases ® identify message components of risk communication «identify advantages and disadvantages of communicating risk across a ange of media channols, Introduction In January 2013, ex-Tropical Cyclone (TC) Oswald triggered a series of extreme weather events factogs the east cost of Queensland. The Wide Bay-Bumett region, located between 120 and 400 Kilometres north of Brisbane, felt the particular effects of ex‘ Oswald, which included mini tomadoes, thunderstorms and stoong wind guste that killed several people and caused significant damage to infrastructure. Two yeats earlier, Queensland had experienced similar extreme weather events, during which social media acted as an information hub when websites for organisations including emergency services struggled to cope with the increased user demand. However, in the main town in the Wide Bay-Bumett region, Bundaberg, the oxtreme weather of January 2013 created a unique communication challenge for emergency services and the community: while Queenslanders had become accustomed to using social media to communicate during natural hazards, Bundaberg is home to the second-largest number of older Austratians and thus social ‘media usage in this region is low. This issue made communicating risk, warings and instructions to individuals, communities and businesses more complex, ‘This chapter introduces the key concepts of risk communication during natural disasters and examines their usefulness in the case of the 2018 Bundaberg flood. In this chapter, @ workingCHAPTER 10 COMMUNICATING DURING DISASTERS \mosledge ofthe contont and phases of risk communication during natural disasters is developed ‘Tosuppor this working knowledge, i introduces key theories that explain how individuals interpret ‘and process messages. This knowledge is important hecause the increasing complexities of natural undaborg cid. gov at/news/ 2012/01/27 updates Hosting) (On 28 January, as the Burnett River continued to rise to levels higher than predicted, the response ‘ecus shifted to evacuating residonts in North Bundaberg. The Busnett River had reached 9. mottos ‘ond was anticipatod to rise to 8.5 metres, an additional metre above the levels reported the previous Gay. high priority alert was issued to notily North Bundaberg residents to evacuato immediatly to Oalewood State School, The Bundaberg Region Disaster Management's Facebook pago reportod that ‘there wore residents on roofs waiting to be rescued. Approximately 11 000 people were evacuated over Several hours. This exercise tepresonts the largest air evacuation in Australia’s history, inelud- ‘ng periods of war. Over the course of the day, reports about the rising river lovels and updates about ‘evacuation points for North Bundaberg continued to flow through a range of media outlets and on the ground. At the same time as communicating instructions to North Bundaberg residents, the LDMCG was «iso dealing with unfounded rumours about water supply. While flooding had affected water treat. ‘meni plants, wator was still available and safe, These myths were addressod using social media, the council website and the news media: Untounded rumours are rife that Bundaborg's water supply is being ‘cut-otf ‘The rumours ave fas. Ther ino issue with the qualty or quantity of Bundaberg's wator supply. Contact Bundaberg Regional Council on 1900 883 699i farthor advice i required Authorised by Peter Byrne, Local Disaster Co-orinatcr, Bundaberg Disastor Management Group, 3:20pm. (hetp Moundaber ald gor afnews/2012/0/28/bundabergs-water supply) While the weather had isolated communities and triggered power outages, somo residents ‘wore relatively unaffected by the event and wanted to volunteer to support their local comrmun- ‘ties. Managing community donations is essential to recovery but can place a significant Straln on the resources requited to manage the immediate response phase of the natural disaster The recovery phase begins “he recovery efforts began on 30 January 2014, only a handful of days after the event began. During ‘this ime, communication focused on the effects ofthe flood in terns of human life and injury and