When the thunder rolls and the lightning strikes, Austin Emergency management officials like Kenneth Neafcy work together to get people the information they need.
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Geography Professor Eve Gruntfest informed Neafcy and other emergency management officials on Monday that their information is not always being heard the same by everyone.
"There's so many different publics. People want different
kinds of information; depending how old they are, depending on where they live, depending on whether they have recent flood experiences," Gruntfest said.
Gruntfest surveyed nearly 1,000 people in Denver and Austin over the course of a year year as part of The Warning Project. The Warning Project is funded by the National Science Foundation and aims to improve flash flood warning messages.
Among several factors, her survey shows people who make
more than $100,000 and people who drive bigger trucks are more likely to chance a low water crossing.
 |  |
 | |  |
| | | | | | | |
Weather warnings
A year-long Austin study surveyed how people interpret weather alerts.
 
| | |
| | | | | |
|
George E. Oswald with the City of Austin Watershed Protection and Development Department said the survey's results are vital to the area. Austin has more than 400 low-water crossings and 7,000 homes and businesses at risk for flooding.
"Not only do we have to deal with identifying storms and areas
where floods may happen, but it's dealing with human psychology and how people understand that information and react to it," Oswald said.
News 8 Austin Chief Meteorologist Burton Fitzsimmons
said the findings have him rethinking how he delivers news to
the public. The survey shows 49 percent of Austin residents depend on TV news for their weather information.
"The hardest thing to say here is really what we say. It comes
down to what I put on a graphic to what word choice I use to what part of town I'm talking about," Fitzsimmons said.
Local emergency management officials say now that they know more about the way the public thinks, they can now think of a way to talk to the people who haven't been listening and hopefully save a life.
