The purpose of this report is to analyze the manner in which the process of communication can be used in an effective manner so that the adequate information or message can be conveyed to the concerned receiver. This process of effective communication becomes even more important during the time of the various natural disasters as was evident during the Queensland Flood of 2011. This report intends to give an overview of the disaster, the communication issues which occurred during the above mentioned disaster and the causes for them. The report will at the same time propose two strategies which the governmental authorities can use to improve the communication process during the time of the natural or manmade disasters.
The various natural disasters have emerged as one of the major problems that the world is facing at the current moment and every year it is seen that valuable lives as well as property are lost because of these. The Queensland Flood of 2011 is one such incident which affected the lives of thousands of people and at the same time more than 40,000 business areas as well homes were affected by the disaster (Pria.com.au, 2018). The major stakeholders who were affected by the disaster were the common people of Queensland (Chiefscientist.qld.gov.au, 2018). Furthermore, the inadequate communication means used by the governmental authorities and the relief providers contributed in a significant manner towards the distress of the victims (Catriona et al., 2018).
The process of communication becomes very significant during the time of the various disasters since the people not only need to get access to the relief services but at the same time they need to have information about the safety as well as the wellbeing of their loved beings (Feldman et al., 2016: 43-51). In the majority of the cases it is seen that the lack of effective communication not only gives rise to diverse kinds of problems but at the same time causes much unnecessary panic and anxiety (Howard et al., 2017: 139-146). Thus, to avoid these problems and at the same time to provide effective relief and also to convey the required information about the disaster that the people are facing the process of communication becomes an important one.
One of the major problems that the various stakeholders or the victims of the flood in Queensland in the year 2011 faced was the fact that they did not have the access to adequate information regarding the disaster that they facing or when it will be mitigated or for that matter the kind of relief services as well as activities which were undertaken by the governmental authorities and the other relief providers (Pria.com.au, 2018). It is a reflection of this particular fact that in the absence of any adequate information the relief services were not provided in an effective manner and at the same time there was much confusion as well as anxiety (Abedin and Babar, 2018: 729-750). Another major communication issue that the people faced during the time of this particular disaster was the fact that there various kinds fake news or yellow journalism which was done by the people over the various media tools and this not only to the confusion of the victims but at the same time added much to the anxiety of the victims as well (Haworth and Bruce, 2015: 237-250).
In the time of the various natural disasters ideally the governmental authorities as well as the Meteorological department of the concerned nation are responsible for conveying the required information to the people of the area beforehand (Takahashi, Tandoc Jr and Carmichael, 2015: 392-398). Furthermore, the governmental authorities as well as the various relief service providers are imbued with the responsibility of conveying the required information about the kind of relief services that they have been arranged for the benefit of the people, the kind of services that they are entitled to, the things that they need to do during these emergency situations, the safety measures that they need to follow to keep not only themselves safe but at the same time others as well, the individuals or the organizations that they can approach to seek help and information regarding important matters and others (Haworth and Bruce, 2015: 237-250). In short these authorities are supposed to follow the Linear Model of Communication (Takahashi, Tandoc Jr and Carmichael, 2015: 392-398). These are some of the very information that the governmental authorities need to convey to the people during the time of natural disasters. However, in the instance of the Queensland Flood of 2011 it was seen that these communication requirements were not followed in an effective manner and this added to the extremity of the disaster.
Conclusion
To conclude, effective communication is one of the most basic requirements during the various natural disasters. It is significant to note that the process of effective communication not only enables the governmental as well as the relief service providers to convey the required and the most important information to the stakeholders but at the same time they help in reducing the anxiety, fear as well as the confusion which ensues during the time of these natural disasters. However, during the time of the Queensland flood of 2011 it was seen that the process of communication was not followed in an effective manner and this was one of the main reasons for the enhanced extremity of the disaster that the stakeholders felt.
The use of effective communication and its related aspects would have not only enabled the governmental authorities as well as the relief providers to convey adequate amount of information to the stakeholders but at the same time would have enabled them to mitigate the harsh effects of the disaster. For example, the use of social media tools for the process of conveying the required information to the stakeholders would have helped the governmental authorities as well as the stakeholders in a significant manner. This would have helped the authorities to not only convey the required information to the majority of the people of the area in a much faster manner but at the same time in an economically feasible manner. Furthermore, the establishment of information booths as well as disaster help line number would also have helped the authorities in a much better manner. This would have not enabled the individuals to have a clear idea of the location or the place that they need to contact in the time of disasters but at the same time it would have much facilitated the process of the various relief services as well.
References
Abedin, B. and Babar, A., 2018. Institutional vs. non-institutional use of social media during emergency response: A case of twitter in 2014 Australian bush fire. Information Systems Frontiers, 20(4), pp.729-740.
Catriona, A., Team, O., Media, C., Speak, B., Communications, C., Clients, O., Stories, S., Relations, P., Media, S., Marketing, C., Leadership, T., Branding, P., Coaching, M., Training, S., Training, P., Training, B., Training, P., Training, M., Training, P., Expert, U., Pack, P. and System, U. 2018. Social media and the Queensland floods. [online] Public Relations Sydney. Available at: https://publicrelationssydney.com.au/social-media-and-the-queensland-floods/ [Accessed 30 Aug. 2018].
Chiefscientist.qld.gov.au. 2018. How do we communicate and warn about floods? (Office of the Queensland Chief Scientist). [online] Available at: https://www.chiefscientist.qld.gov.au/publications/understanding-floods/flood-warnings/ [Accessed 30 Aug. 2018].
Feldman, D., Contreras, S., Karlin, B., Basolo, V., Matthew, R., Sanders, B., Houston, D., Cheung, W., Goodrich, K., Reyes, A. and Serrano, K., 2016. Communicating flood risk: Looking back and forward at traditional and social media outlets. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 15, pp.43-51.
Haworth, B. and Bruce, E., 2015. A review of volunteered geographic information for disaster management. Geography Compass, 9(5), pp.237-250.
Howard, A., Agllias, K., Bevis, M. and Blakemore, T., 2017. “They’ll tell us when to evacuate”: The experiences and expectations of disaster-related communication in vulnerable groups. International journal of disaster risk reduction, 22, pp.139-146.
Pria.com.au. 2018. January 2011 Flood Crisis – Brisbane Council – Public Relations Institute of Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.pria.com.au/resources/emergencycrisis-communication/january-2011-flood-crisis—brisbane-council [Accessed 30 Aug. 2018].
Takahashi, B., Tandoc Jr, E.C. and Carmichael, C., 2015. Communicating on Twitter during a disaster: An analysis of tweets during Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Computers in Human Behavior, 50, pp.392-398.
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