Community responses on effective flood dissemination warnings—A case study of the December 2014 Kelantan Flood, Malaysia

Early flood warnings are important to allow sufficient time for evacuation. Although warning systems are now in place, key questions remain as to their effectiveness in sending information to the public, which may in part depend on the media used. This paper assesses the effectiveness of warnings di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of flood risk management Vol. 13; no. S1
Main Authors:	Alias, Nor Eliza, Salim, Nurul Atika, Taib, Shazwin Mat, Mohd Yusof, Mohd Badruddin, Saari, Radzuan, Adli Ramli, Muhammad Wafiy, Othman, Ilya K., Annammala, Kogila V., Yusof, Halimah M., Ismail, Norazlina, Yuzir, Ali, Blenkinsop, Stephen
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-01-2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Wiley
Subjects:	Case studies community response disaster management effective flood warning Evacuation systems flood disaster Flood warnings Floods Public awareness Short message service System effectiveness Television Warning systems Malaysia
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Early flood warnings are important to allow sufficient time for evacuation. Although warning systems are now in place, key questions remain as to their effectiveness in sending information to the public, which may in part depend on the media used. This paper assesses the effectiveness of warnings disseminated to the public for the December 2014 Kelantan Flood, Malaysia. The flood was the worst in decades making it an appropriate case study with which to assess public awareness and perceptions associated with flood warnings and their dissemination. The effectiveness of warnings issued via different media was assessed by questionnaire. Results show that 56% of respondents received warnings prior to the flood, a majority of them through television and information shared among the public. While the preferred medium of warning is not dependent on age, assessment of peoples' response to warnings shows that with increasing age responsiveness to orders and readiness to evacuate decreases. To increase the number of people receiving the warnings, short message service (SMS) communications sent from the authorities to a wider audience may be considered, as information shared among the public is observed to be most effective in reaching the greatest number of people.
ISSN:	1753-318X 1753-318X
DOI:	10.1111/jfr3.12552