The crisis I have chosen to write about is about the sewer collapse in Valley City. I examined the communication of all the city officials, the mayor, and journalists for local newspapers and websites. The communication in this type of crisis is vital before, during, and after the crisis. A few days before this crisis, it had been said on the radio and television that Valley City residents should conserve water. I don't know if the message was not getting out enough or that people did not pay attention to or misinterpreted the message. I got a knock on my door Thursday (the day before the collapse) evening from a guy who was passing out flyers and telling us the best ways we can conserve water because it was very crucial. My original plan to conserve water was just to quit washing my dishes and laundry. I still poured water down the drain. I'm sure others thought this way, which is likely what caused the problem. The preliminary communication was probably, in my opinion, the worst.
Despite the problems in the beginning, communication about the crisis once it occured was prompt. I awoke to the town's emergency whistle going off at around 9:30 am. I turned my radio to Q 101 and found out what had happened. The radio announcer told us all to not use any water at all. The radio announcement was an effective form of crisis communication. It was prompt and stated the facts. Also, the whistle going off allowed people to turn on their radios. I would have never even had the radio on if I hadn't heard the radio. One other thing the radio announcer said was that all nonessential businesses should be closed and that there was a voluntary evacuation of the entire city. While I was listening, the radio announcer actually said that the evacuation was mandatory (which it wasn't). This was a gliche in the crisis communication of the City. Fortunately, the mayor came on minutes after that announcement and corrected him, saying the evacuation was only voluntary.
Another thing that I noticed the City did right in this crisis was telling people what's going to happen in the long run. Officials said that the city will likely be using porta-potties for the next month. I feel that if they hadn't said this, people may not have realized the problem was so significant.
Our local newspaper, The Times-Record, had several follow-up articles to the crisis, and this is one of them. This article talks about the closure of the businesses. It gives advice from FEMA about what businessowners can do during the crisis. This article talks about what exactly happened to the sewer. It gave an explanation to citizens (such as myself) who may have been confused. Log on to their website to view more stories.
The Forum also featured an article on the story on the front page the day it collapsed. The article stated what had happened and what buildings were affected. I thought this article was effective because it told the public the truth and did not sugar coat anything.
Additionally, a local news site, NewsDakota, offered plenty of articles about the crisis. They offered plenty of articles about the floods all over the 15 counties the site offers. This is also the site that let me know when Valley City nonessential businesses were allowed to open again.
Some have said bad things about the City and the mayor, but I think they did an effective job in the communication of the crisis. VCSU also played a huge role in the communication among students. I got a phone call, email, and text message informing me of the cancellation of classes.
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I agree with you that the communication to the public about the importance of conserving water before the collapse wasn't taken seroiusly. However, once the collapse blowing the whistle to make everyone turn the radio on to hear the notice of the collapse was good. Along with the following notices that the sewer was going to be down awhile and that if you could leave town to do so. The city didn't try to sugarcoat the situation and told the public that it was going to be weeks without a sewer system and thats why they said to evacuate if possible.
ReplyDeleteCommunication during a crisis. It is very important to get the word out as fast as possible. The radio in Valley City is a great way to get the word out. Everyone that i know was listening to one radio station Q101. That made it easy for the city to get word out and it also allowed for just one voice.
ReplyDeleteI probably would be in Valley City if it wasn't for the sewer system going out. But i wouldn't be able to take not showering or having to use the port-a-potties for weeks on end. I hope the sewer system is fixed shortly so i can go back to my apartment and a return to a sort of normal life.
I too agree with Annie about the water usage was not taken seriously. The towns use of the radio for crisis communication was very effective in dealing with the crisis. This is why the radio is used heavy during the summer months to get the word out about severe storms and tornadic activity.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest problem with people not understanding the announcements was it didn't seem that pressing at the time. It was weird because it was so nice out that day. I was driving to Valley City on the day that the evacuation was issued to pick up my stuff and it seemed like it wasn't real, almost. When I think of floods, I guess I don't picture 60 degrees and sunny with a little breeze. The city did such a good job of getting the dikes constructed that the river was kept in check, for the most part. People didn't realize that even though the river hadn't overflown the dikes, and likely wouldn't, that they were free to go about the lives like normal for the most part. Once that evacuation was issued, I think people realized how serious the situation was with the sewer system, but by then, it was too late to undo the damage.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the fact that people didn’t take the water conservation notice seriously. Running water and sewers are a luxury that a lot of the time most people take for granted, and I am included in this. I was already at home when the sewer system collapsed, and I could not imagine having to use a port-a-potty, and not shower for weeks on end. I guess most people didn’t realize the seriousness of the issue until if the sewer actually collapsed.
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