IGEM Report 1: 2017-18 - THE CYCLONE DEBBIE REVIEW

The Cyclone Debbie Review

Themes

Warnings and Emergency Alerts

Communities at risk of impact from an event are defined and can be targeted with contextualised warnings. Communities at risk of impact from an event receive fit-for-purpose, consistent, accurate warnings through all phases of events.

The Standard is clear about the outcomes for warnings:

Warnings are at the sharp end of public information and engagement, as they enable and empower communities to take appropriate action during a disaster. They include any communication sent to the community that requires people to take action to protect life or property. During Debbie, a range of strategies was used to inform and advise the community. Councils used door knocking, letter box dropping, the media, and digital warnings through the Early Warning Network, other technology systems and the national Emergency Alert system. Warnings were also issued by other agencies and utilities including dam operators and harbour masters. With regard to dam operations, we recognise the significantly improved messaging and systems that have been put in place by SunWater and Seqwater over the past two years. In particular, we acknowledge their approach to implementing various recommendations and suggestions from previous reviews. We heard from dam operators that, on some occasions during this event, they felt they were the only providers of information, and attracted community blame as a result. We also heard from one local group that they felt the timings of the SunWater messaging was too early. There is clearly greater collaboration needed here. The widespread nature and volume of warnings was reflected in the community survey where one in two respondents could recall receiving some form of official warning via text message leading up to the event. 107 While many respondents (31-41 per cent) could not recall who the text message was from, the local council was identified as the most common source of the text message warning.

The demographic profile of a community is central to understanding the best communication methods and possible barriers that people identify in both receiving and understanding a message. A clear example of this is age difference. Our community survey identified that, generally, people under 45 years were more likely to use mobile phones, online and social media channels, than people over 45 years. The use of mobile phones and online sources also declines sharply with those aged over 65 years, while information accessed through television and landline telephones significantly increases. The community survey also identified that, overall, one of the least effective methods of receiving official warnings was a phone call to landlines from authorities. Yet, when looking at results for people aged over 60 years, the value of this method increased. Other effective methods identified in the community survey were face-to-face engagement, such as door knocking by SES or QPS officers, in likely impact areas. These demographic factors are important when considering how best to warn those at risk in an event. They also highlight the importance of warnings and alerts being part of a multi-modal communication approach that utilises different methods, tailored for different communities and purposes. This approach was best captured by Ipswich City Council. Their approach to community messaging is summarised in the précis of interview notes, below:

Finding Emergency Alert and other digital ways of warning are important but need to be used in a suite of tools to adequately inform the public. Information works best when it is timely, contextualised, informative, consistent and understandable.

Community messaging is an escalated approach; we (Ipswich City Council) use social media for general information to keep people informed, we use door knocking and messaging to phone numbers to targeted areas. It also allows us to assess any key issues in the community, as well as keeps the community calm. We also get a better response as people know you have taken the time. We have rarely – maybe once – used the EA system, but as we know our at-risk area, targeted doorknocking and direct calls works better. The community knows “you will hear from us when it’s a problem for you.” This approach encourages self-sufficiency as it conveys a message of “monitor yourself” but also lets them know what sources we will advise them through.

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6 THEMES

Authoritative point of truth • Warnings and Emergency Alerts