Extreme weather dominates 2023

I have been reviewing the 12 crisis communication case studies from this year and the first theme that is obvious is the impact of significant weather events. Whatever you call them extreme weather, significant weather, it doesn't matter it covers a whole range of challenging situations.

All these weather crises have a huge impact on people's lives and preserving and protecting life is always the priority. But they can also damage businesses and leave them unable to operate for significant amounts of time.

In February Testing Times reviewed the flooding in Auckland, New Zealand, in March it considered the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, in August wildfires across Europe, and in November flooding across parts of the UK.

The main points:

• Planning and preparation is key including testing and exercising for extreme weather
• Consider early warnings what they are and how you provide them. Ensure they include details of the action that is required
• Recognise that the situation has occurred and take responsibility to put action and support in place
• Discuss resilience with customers and communities to help them be ready to respond when something happens
• Co-ordinate communication and ensure that it involves a range of channels not just social media or media. Communication is not just words but it is the visual images that people see.
• Speak first and speak frequently. Ensure the information is clear and easy to understand, and that it corrects inaccuracies quickly
• Recovery will need to take place over the long term so don't step away from providing support too soon
• Above all, prioritise the support to those who are affected and this means tailoring and targeting communication

More weather events are sure to hit us in 2024 no matter where in the world we are based. It is important to learn from what has happened and ensure we are as prepared as possible. I write this after being at the heart of a flood alert and two storms that hit over the weekend. I am not in a usual area for flooding and am sure like many I was left with a question about what I should do. Alerts are important but so is providing details of actions to take. I hope we discuss this more publicly in 2024.