Profiles in Preparedness #3: Weather Edition
I've been thinking a lot about weather lately. We are just a few weeks away from releasing a few articles that apply the left of bang concepts to severe weather and my social media feeds and inbox have been full of weather-related reading.
I wanted to share a few of the better resources and articles that can help organizational leaders, emergency managers, and public safety professionals prepare for an uncertain future.
"How Accurate is the Weather Forecast?"
Government weather forecasts are present in many of the weather apps we use and in the predictions that meteorologists make, and their accuracy is important. Yet predicting the weather can be hard across the country as different regions allow for different degrees of confidence in the forecast.
This Washington Post article presents never-shared before data from the National Weather Service about the accuracy of their temperature forecasts, and the number of days in advance that their forecasts can be relied upon.
Want another one like this? "A four-day forecast today is as accurate as a one-day forecast 30 years ago"
"How Future Hurricanes Could Stress Power Grids of U.S. Cities"
This article was written and published before Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas and before Houston's ongoing power outages made national news, but it called the risk right. Power outages present a considerable challenge that local governments, businesses, healthcare organizations, security professionals and many more (not to mention the residents who live in our communities) need to consider as they prepare for future disasters.
Want another one like this? "How Blackouts during Heat Waves Amplify Mortality and Morbidity Risk"
"Prepare for the Push Alerts"
Recognizing that dangerous conditions exist isn't enough. Making the most of enhanced situational awareness requires that people act on the information they have. For many weather incidents, that alert comes from government agencies attempting to warn the public of threatening conditions.
But the misuse of emergency alerts can be harmful, and when done in excess, it actually leads people to ignore or opt-out of receiving them. As the number of heat and weather-related incidents increases and becomes repetitive (though their danger is no less threatening), people's willingness to act can go down.
Organizational leaders thinking about their alerting should keep the three basic elements in mind: "the affected location, plain-language guidance on what actions people should take to protect themselves, and the time of the threats, or the time by which people should take action."
Want another one like this? I posted on LinkedIn recently about a report looking at the rapid intensification of tropical storms (and its impact on alerting) here and another about a report discussing the connection between the accuracy of temperature forecasts (a form of information sharing) and its associated risks here.
As always, thanks for reading, and if you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe using the button below.