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What information do people use, trust, and find useful during a disaster? Evidence from five large wildfires

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  • Toddi Steelman
  • Sarah McCaffrey
  • Anne-Lise Velez
  • Jason Briefel

Abstract

The communication system through which information flows during a disaster can be conceived of as a set of relationships among sources and recipients who are concerned about key information characteristics. The recipient perspective is often neglected within this system. In this article, we explore recipient perspectives related to what information was used, useful, and trustworthy in a wildfire context. Using a survey (n = 873) on five large wildfires in 2009 and 2010, we found significant gaps between the sources that were used by the most respondents and those that that they rated as useful or trustworthy. The sources that were used most before the fires were highly correlated with the sources that were used most during the fire. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Toddi Steelman & Sarah McCaffrey & Anne-Lise Velez & Jason Briefel, 2015. "What information do people use, trust, and find useful during a disaster? Evidence from five large wildfires," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 76(1), pages 615-634, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:76:y:2015:i:1:p:615-634
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-014-1512-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Toddi Steelman & Sarah McCaffrey, 2013. "Best practices in risk and crisis communication: Implications for natural hazards management," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 65(1), pages 683-705, January.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Alex W. Dye & John B. Kim & Andrew McEvoy & Fang Fang & Karin L. Riley, 2021. "Evaluating rural Pacific Northwest towns for wildfire evacuation vulnerability," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 107(1), pages 911-935, May.
    3. Emily Heaney & Laura Hunter & Angus Clulow & Devin Bowles & Sotiris Vardoulakis, 2021. "Efficacy of Communication Techniques and Health Outcomes of Bushfire Smoke Exposure: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-14, October.
    4. Shasha Li & Xinyu Peng & Ruiqiu Pang & Li Li & Zixuan Song & Hongying Ye, 2021. "Information Preference and Information Supply Efficiency Evaluation before, during, and after an Earthquake: Evidence from Songyuan, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-28, December.
    5. Fengwan Zhang & Xueling Bao & Xin Deng & Wei Wang & Jiahao Song & Dingde Xu, 2022. "Does Trust Help to Improve Residents’ Perceptions of the Efficacy of Disaster Preparedness? Evidence from Wenchuan and Lushan Earthquakes in Sichuan Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-15, April.
    6. Tianzhuo Liu & Huifang Jiao, 2018. "How does information affect fire risk reduction behaviors? Mediating effects of cognitive processes and subjective knowledge," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 90(3), pages 1461-1483, February.
    7. Dingde Xu & Linmei Zhuang & Xin Deng & Cheng Qing & Zhuolin Yong, 2020. "Media Exposure, Disaster Experience, and Risk Perception of Rural Households in Earthquake-Stricken Areas: Evidence from Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-20, May.

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