Hurricane Sandy

As I write this, Hurricane Sandy is rapidly working its way up the east coast toward New York, New England and into Canada. In a few hours it is supposed to make its self known here in Virginia. Right now, there is a light rain but, according to projections, there will be nothing "light" about this storm once it arrives. It is expected that many of us will lose power as a result of this storm, which experts are calling a real monster. Some are even saying it will be the worst in U.S. history. That, of course, remains to be seen but I, for one, am hoping that does not turn out to be the case. Massive devistation is never welcomed.

Putting the possible impact and power of the storm aside for a moment, however, from a communication perspective, I am impressed with how this is being handled thus far. The federal government and its state counterparts have been doing a solid job of preparing people of the potential seriousness of this storm. As a result, I feel extremely confident these same entities will respond with equal competence and commitment in helping people recover from Hurricane Sandy should that be necessary. Politics aside, we all want our government to be competent. This build-up to Hurricane Sandy is making me feel as if this is eactly what we have.

Risk communication is not easy. It involves getting people to prepare for a crisis that may or may actually happen. How do you do that without sounding like Chicken Little or turning people off because you are coming across like an alarmist? More and more, storms like Sandy are becoming a regular part of the American landscape. In a twisted way, this helps. We have seen the great harm and damage storms can do, particularly when people are not prepared and those in-charge are not as competent as they should be. One thing that will get us through this current challenge is ongoing communication. So far so good.