The recent DANA that has hit our country has left many questions about the way in which extreme weather phenomena are communicated, if it is really an effective system or if unnecessary alarmism is created in these cases.
Javier Cantón Correa, professor of the Degree in Communication at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR), believes that a good job is done in Spain in this regard: “In my opinion, the information that journalism offers to the population is quite complete in general, and more and more data and more complex information are offered in a didactic and informative manner, although there is still a way to go in issues such as the visualization of uncertainty,” he highlights.
“Another thing is the pedagogical work that must be done so that people are aware of how to behave and act in the face of extreme phenomena of this type. There we will have to undertake awareness campaigns, community workshops and even, in some locations, why not, drills,” adds the teacher.
“Not only for phenomena like DANAs, also, for example, to prepare for earthquakes in areas like southeast Spain, now that Morocco has suffered such a devastating one. An educated and informed population is a prepared population,” says Cantón.
On the other hand, the professor assures that we must “take advantage of existing communication channels and prepare the population before the phenomena occur” because “communication is important to provide certainty in times of uncertainty, which is why the population has to learn to trust official sources of information and public warning systems.”
In this sense, he gives examples of different systems in which Spain could have references, such as “Japan’s tsunami early warning system” or “the IPAWS system (Integrated Public Alert
Javier Cantón considers that the action protocols for this type of meteorological phenomena “save lives” and that they would have changed things at key moments, such as “so that the population knows that it is not a good idea to go out on the streets at critical moments like the recent “DANA.”
“If these types of crisis moments are going to become more and more common, we will have to go beyond common sense and popular knowledge. It is not only about teaching about extreme climate phenomena, we also have to go further and explain why they occur, how it connects, for example, with climate change,” highlights the expert.
Regarding the recent criticism of the government’s communication system in the event of emergencies such as the recent DANA in Madrid, Cantón recognizes that other types of notices should be incorporated: “Although it had already been tried before, the truth is that this time it has caused a certain stir and alarm because of the suddenness,” he explains.
“In my opinion, technological forms of emergency notification should be expanded, such as those mentioned above, and whenever possible, very focused on the local, which are the authorities closest to citizens,” highlights the professor.
In short, remember one of the keys to this type of communication: “We must notify not only in a technologically advanced way, but also with the usual acoustic warnings: bells, sirens, etc., with prior work to raise awareness and training, so that they understand what these alarms mean and how to act in response to each one of them.”
Knowing the communication channels, the appropriate methods and the ways to transmit these increasingly frequent meteorological emergencies to the population is a highly required job that has a growing trend, which is why a lot of specialized training is being developed in this regard.
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