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Lookup NU author(s): Nor Eliza Alias, Dr Stephen Blenkinsop
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Blackwell Publishing Inc., 2020.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
© 2019 The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and John Wiley & Sons LtdEarly flood warnings are important to allow sufficient time for evacuation. Although warning systems are now in place, key questions remain as to their effectiveness in sending information to the public, which may in part depend on the media used. This paper assesses the effectiveness of warnings disseminated to the public for the December 2014 Kelantan Flood, Malaysia. The flood was the worst in decades making it an appropriate case study with which to assess public awareness and perceptions associated with flood warnings and their dissemination. The effectiveness of warnings issued via different media was assessed by questionnaire. Results show that 56% of respondents received warnings prior to the flood, a majority of them through television and information shared among the public. While the preferred medium of warning is not dependent on age, assessment of peoples' response to warnings shows that with increasing age responsiveness to orders and readiness to evacuate decreases. To increase the number of people receiving the warnings, short message service (SMS) communications sent from the authorities to a wider audience may be considered, as information shared among the public is observed to be most effective in reaching the greatest number of people.
Author(s): Alias NE, Salim NA, Taib SM, Mohd Yusof MB, Saari R, Adli Ramli MW, Othman IK, Annammala KV, Yusof HM, Ismail N, Yuzir A, Blenkinsop S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Flood Risk Management
Year: 2020
Volume: 13
Issue: Suppl. 1
Print publication date: 12/12/2019
Online publication date: 23/05/2019
Acceptance date: 12/05/2019
Date deposited: 05/08/2019
ISSN (electronic): 1753-318X
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12552
DOI: 10.1111/jfr3.12552
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