Understanding the Warning Process Through the Lens of Practice: Emancipation as a Condition of Action–Some Lessons from France - Reducing Disaster: Early Warning Systems for Climate Change - page 215

but rather with the hazardous phenomenon and the situation, taking them into
consideration and incorporating them into our world of action.
The purpose of early warning systems (EWSs) is to enhance anticipation and
therefore to provide additional time to act and to safeguard populations. Nevertheless,
better anticipation does not automatically mean that the warnings are more effec-
tive. Indeed, if we consider the warning process rather than the warning system
(Créton-Cazanave et al. 2009 ), it would seem that 'more time to prepare' may not
be enough to improve the practical effi cacy of the warnings: in 2010, the emergency
services in the Loire Département, in France, were given 24-h advance warning of
a risk of fl oods. Since a 24-h fl ood warning is a target rarely achieved, the forecast-
ers were satisfi ed. Moderate fl ooding took place. Yet in the feedback, the emer-
gency services expressed their dissatisfaction, explaining that knowing that there
is a 'risk' 24 h in advance is of no use to them, since it puts everyone on the alert
without providing additional information on which decisions can be based.
This is consistent with previous works that show that longer forecasting horizons
do not necessarily lead to earlier and better informed responses from those charged
with civil protection in the event of fl ooding (Demeritt et al. 2010 , 2013 ; Nobert
et al. 2010 ). Indeed, EWSs have been traditionally conceived as hazard-focused
when we know that disasters are the result of a complex combination of multiple
factors, such as environmental, technical, economical and social issues (Wisner
et al. 2004 ). EWSs should therefore be holistic, with a multi-hazard approach that
considers relevant local vulnerability elements and the larger social context, reac-
tion capacity, appropriate warning communication strategies and dynamics of the
evacuation processes (García 2012 ; Wisner et al. 2004 ). In fact, if EWSs are not
designed in concert with all the stakeholders, additional response time given by
warnings will be helpful, but not helpful enough to make warnings more effective,
because there are many ways this time can be put to use to take action. We therefore
also need to think about the conditions under which action is taken, in order to
understand better what can hinder or foster action in response to risk.
This was the purpose of a doctoral research conducted on the case of the fl ash
fl ood warning process (FFWP) in the Vidourle catchment area (South France). 1
Meticulous observation of the FFWP through the practices of the people involved
highlighted an unexpected nodal point reported by all the stakeholders (from
weather forecasters to local residents) 2 . The number of 'entities 3 ' they needed to
1 Doctoral research at UMR Pacte-Territoires, Université de Grenoble, France. Advisors: O.
Soubeyran, C. Lutoff. Funds: Région Rhône-Alpes, cf. Créton-Cazanave ( 2010 ).
2 The thesis explored - both - specifi cities and common points between the different actors' practices
during the warning process. In this chapter, we will concentrate on one common problem they all face,
because it seems important to me to highlight that some action stakes - beyond all kinds of specifi cities -
may be shared through the whole warning process. For more detailed analysis, the reader may refer to
the thesis (Créton-Cazanave 2010 ), or for an overview (Créton-Cazanave and Lutoff 2013 ).
3 As we will see later, entities may be human or non-human elements, that are to be understood as
being part of the world of action. The notion is correlated with Science and Technology Studies,
and especially Latour's and Callon's works, that try to go beyond the traditional division between
nature and culture, non-human and human actors.