Natural Disasters and Risk Communication

Reviews / Votes

Fletcher and Lovejoy's Natural Disasters and Risk Communication: Implications of the Cascadia Subduction Zone Megaquake is a must-read for anyone interested in risk communication and how societies respond to natural disasters. The book focuses on moving readers beyond traditional responses such as panic or apathy and toward more productive ones such as preparedness and resilience in the face of inevitable crises. Natural disasters associated with climate change make this book especially timely and necessary. I highly recommend it. -- Luis E. Hestres, The University of Texas at San Antonio This text provides a useful set of readings from various authors addressing the scope of risk perception, preparedness, and communication within the framework of a regional risk. Parts of the book address various geological features of natural disasters and the role education, family units, and economic factors of disasters which are often under-addressed in the communication literature. Through the incorporation of a number of unique perspectives the uses of this book and implications for scholar and practitioners of communication are obvious. This assembled collection of works fills specific gaps in the literature examining natural disasters. The book provides a contribution that is timely and ongoing. -- Patric Spence, University of Kentucky As the collection uses a combination of narratives and statistical analyses to explore issues surrounding risk communication and disaster preparedness, it is easily understandable for lay audiences looking for more information on the topic. As each study in Natural Disasters and Risk Communication is theoretically based, it is also a valuable resource for scholars conducting research in the area. Using the Pacific Northwest Cascadia Subduction Zone megaquake case study as a springboard, each subsequent part of Natural Disasters and Risk Communication continues to discuss a topic within risk communication: psychological determinants of risk perception, effective risk communication messages, social and economic impacts of risk perceptions, and practical issues of disaster preparedness at the community level. . . . The field of risk communication is in a constant state of flux as new research and information sheds new light on old issues. Natural Disasters and Risk Communication: Implications of the Cascadia Subduction Zone Megaquake stimulates and continues this conversation through a variety of theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches, adding to both practical and theoretical development of the field. * Communication Booknotes Quarterly *