Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
•
Preparing communities for future tsunamis;
•
Developing and delivering effective warning messages; and
•
Improving interagency coordination, as well as coordination among all segments of
the community (public and private), in preparing for and responding to tsunamis.
EDUCATION OF AT-RISK INDIVIDUALS
Tsunami education in U.S. coastal communities is a major challenge because it requires
reaching hundreds of coastal communities that contain hundreds of thousands of residents,
employees, and tourists. There are 29 NTHMP partner states, territories, and commonwealths,
each a sovereign entity with sub-jurisdictions (e.g., counties, cities) that have individual needs,
priorities, and resources for tsunami education. Tsunami education needs to also adequately
convey the different tsunami threats and proper responses to each—local tsunamis that re-
quire instantaneous, self-protective action to reach higher ground based on the recognition of
natural cues and distant tsunamis that involve orderly evacuations over several hours that are
managed by oficials and informed by the tsunami warning centers.
The NTHMP Mitigation and Education Subcommittee (M&ES) is tasked with assessing tsu-
nami mitigation and education needs for the nation, addressing these needs through targeted
products and activities, and then sharing these products with other at-risk coastal states, ter-
ritories, and commonwealths. An NTHMP-approved strategic implementation plan for tsunami
mitigation projects (Dengler, 1998, 2005) identiies education as a critical element in mitigation
and states that effective education projects deine the audience and their needs, assess exist-
ing materials, and deine a strategy for sustained support. This plan also discusses the need for
a resource center to provide information exchange and coordination. With guidance from the
M&ES, NTHMP members develop their individual education projects to support the goals and
objectives of the subcommittee and often collaborate on regional products that address com-
mon issues between members. This section provides an overview of the factors that inluence
the effectiveness of education and reviews progress in NTHMP education efforts. Conclusions
and recommendations in this section center on the need to assess the needs and knowledge
of the at-risk audience and on making NTHMP education efforts more coordinated, consistent,
and subsequently, more effective.
Factors That Increase the Effectiveness of Education
A rich research base has been developed to address the question of how to enhance what
the public knows and to motivate them to take actions to prepare for future hazards (Mileti
and Fitzpatrick, 1992; Mileti et al., 1992; National Research Council, 2006). Based on the cur-
rent literature, the committee highlights 10 practical steps to increase public knowledge of
and readiness for tsunamis (Box 3.2). Effective public education on hazards has been found
to correlate with many factors: dissemination content and channels, social and physical cues,
the status and role of the recipient, past experience with hazard(s), beliefs about the informa-
