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Lunch & Learn Series: Successful Campaigns in Lean Times …a look at turning the U.S. into a “Weather-Ready Nation”

March 21, 2013

Weather-Ready Nation

Joe Flood National Weather Service

March 21, 2013

In 2011 Alone… Fourteen $1 Billion Disasters

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2012 Continued the Trend Eleven $1 Billion Disasters

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“Superstorm” Sandy

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“Superstorm” Sandy Social and Economic Impacts

• 72 US deaths, plus 75 outside the US • 17 US states affected; damage between $50-65 Billion • 8.5 million without power at the height of the storm • Over 18,000 commercial airline flights canceled • Evacuations from Ocean City, MD to Dartmouth, MA (400 miles of coastline)

LaGuardia airport – Courtesy of Jet Blue 6

In the past few years… Scope of Disasters Reflects Our Societal Vulnerability

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A Changing World

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Increasing Vulnerability to High-Impact Weather

Building a Weather-Ready Nation

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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) is about building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather. The NWS is leading development of new decision support services, improving technology to track and forecast storms, and expanding its dissemination efforts to achieve far-reaching national preparedness for weather events.

What does this mean?

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The NWS is leading development of new decision support services, improving technology to track and forecast storms, and expanding its dissemination efforts to achieve far-reaching national preparedness for weather events.

Explaining Science

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• Use common terms • Avoid acronyms • Get out of the organizational bubble • Relate to real-world situations • Stress benefits, not features

“Decision Support Services”

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You’re in charge of the July 4th celebrations on the National Mall. A line of thunderstorms is approaching – do you evacuate everyone? Decision Support Services provides real-time information from on-site meteorologists so that you can evacuate crowds before the storm.

“Improving technology to track and forecast storms”

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Dual-pol radar allows forecasters to peer into storms, allowing them to distinguish between rain and snow and better identify tornadoes. Currently being rolled-out across the US.

“expanded dissemination efforts”

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• Wireless Emergency Alerts – text messages sent directly to your cellphone

• What do you need to do? Nothing – sent automatically.

• Not 100% available yet on all phones

Features vs Benefits

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Features or benefits? Which matters most? FEATURE: Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are emergency messages sent by authorized government alerting authorities through your mobile carrier. Government partners include local and state public safety agencies, FEMA… Is this the story you want to tell? BENEFIT: Get a text alert before a tornado hits your house. Concentrate on BENEFITS!!

Case Study: National Severe Weather Preparedness Week (NSWPW)

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• March 3-9, 2013 • 2nd year • Partnership with FEMA • In addition to state

preparedness weeks

Main Message

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Be a Force of Nature You are not powerless in the face of extreme weather. Know your risk, take action and be an example during National Severe Weather Preparedness Week.

Secondary Messages

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1.Know Your Risk – learn about weather resources, the difference between a watch and a warning, etc.. 2.Take Action – have an emergency plan, prepare an emergency kit, know what to do when disaster strikes 3.Be an Example – share your preparedness story through social media

NSWPW Traditional Media

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• Joint NOAA/FEMA press release • Outreach to reporters • Presidential Message • Statements from senior leadership

NSWPW New Media

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• Online toolkit: blog post, talking points, press release,

video • WRN website updated daily • A new story every day on NOAA.gov, linking to WRN site • Social Media Plan: scheduled tweets and Facebook posts

for NOAA, NWS and partners

Internal Communications

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• Webinar to 122 NWS

Field Offices briefing them on the week

• Field offices have vibrant Facebook pages

• Comm tools posted to intranet

• Staff (and their networks) are an untapped resource

Partnerships

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• NSWPW developed jointly with FEMA • American Red Cross, AARP and The Weather Channel

also helped promote the week

NSWPW Results

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• Impacted by sequester (leadership didn’t want to go on

camera) and then Snowquester • Press coverage in local papers, municipalities, blogs and

on the Hill • Facebook: 1,003 likes, 313,556 views, 1,895 shares, 66

comments

WRN Challenges

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• Awareness of Weather-Ready Nation (25%) and Be a

Force of Nature (10%) is low among the public • 1998-era web tools • No $$ like most agencies

WRN Advantages

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• Weather is relevant to everyone – ASI score of 84 for

NWS • Broad community support – the weather impacts

everyone • Allies in The Weather Enterprise

The Weather Enterprise

Government

Emergency

Management

Academia

Private Sector

Broadcast Media

Social Science

It’s about working together

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Coming Soon

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Low-Cost Tips

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• Rewrite your content focused on benefits • Communicate internally and give staff tools to get the

message out • Use social media to get the word out about your

program • Partner with outside organizations, even if it’s informally,

to publicize your message

Summary

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• Weather-Ready Nation and Be a Force of Nature are

messages that resonate with the public – when they hear of them

• Challenge is explaining science in terms that the public can understand

• We can increase engagement by producing content focused on benefits

• Challenges are money and technology • We have allies in The Weather Enterprise • We’re just getting started

Questions and Discussion Joseph.W.Flood@noaa.gov

NOAA.gov/wrn