Establishing information seeking pathways in slow and flash floods.

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to investigate information seeking behaviour of people involved in slow and flash flood disasters, specifically how they received the first alert, where they then turned for more information, and what their main sources and forms were. An online and mailed survey based on models of problem-specific information seeking and risk information for natural hazards secured responses from Australians who had experienced flash flood (n = 91) and slow flood (n = 41). It found that information pathways taken by individuals are different for slow and flash floods, but the set of information forms and sources used are similar. 'Other people', television and news and weather websites were predominant sources and forms in flash flood, and online sources, television and radio predominant in slow flood. The importance of other people and mainstream media (including their online sites) in information behaviour means that mainstream media should remain an important component of information efforts by agencies. This study builds further evidence that disaster type and the media landscape should be taken into account when developing warning and response communication strategies, and allows public information officers to prioritise communication forms during response. Highlights • Other people and environmental cues were the main alert sources and forms in flash flood. • Slow flood information seekers tended to use formal sources and forms such as television, radio and news and weather websites. • Mainstream media is still a major source of information and was the most predominant alert source for slow flood. • The most important source/form for flash flood was television. • Social media was not a significant source of information in the overall information environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]