Comms About Hurricane Harvey
As Texas prepares for Hurricane Harvey, government officials and news organizations are preparing communications to help:
- President Trump issued a statement about monitoring the storm and encouraging people to evacuate if they are in the Hurricane's path. The president is also tweeting about the storm.
- His statement points to Ready.gov, a website rich with resources for preparing families in case of flooding, hurricanes, or extreme heat.
- CNN's website shows live updates of the storm's path.
- The National Hurricane Center is posting coastal warnings and a visual of the cone.
- Texas Governor Greg Abbott was interviewed by BBC and is hosting a meeting to plan emergency operations. (His website includes a tweet but nothing else yet about the storm.)
And, of course, the media is covering the storm with bold headlines:
- "Major disaster" (BBC)
- "Monster storm" (Washington Post)
- "Could be much worse than Sandy" (NY Post)
Discussion:
- Explore Ready.gov. What do you notice about the key messages, organization, and use of visuals? How easy is it to find information?
- Ready.gov, as of now, doesn't feature Hurricane Harvey; it's generic. Should the site be updated to feature the storm? Why or why not?
- Also explore Governor Abbott's website. Does this site feature the hurricane yet? How do you think the hurricane should be positioned here?