Around the country, inland and coastal flooding is becoming more frequent and more intense. On average in the U.S., flooding occurs on nearly 300 days per year. Flooding affects people of different cultural, socioeconomic, educational, and regional backgrounds, making communication about flooding tricky. Information on flooding should be relatable, accessible, and actionable. Here are a few things you should know.

1. Listen closely to your audiences and their concerns. This will help you tailor your communications efforts to platforms they use and messages they will be responsive to. Instead of using technical language like “100-year flood,” which might be interpreted as a flood that won’t happen again for another 100 years, use clearer phrases like a “a flood so severe there is only a 1% chance it could happen each year” so all audiences can understand your message.
2. Use real-life and local examples, whenever possible. If you want to reference a past flooding event that impacted your area, you can talk about how flood waters affected local businesses, homes, and people. Communicating where the flood risk is occurring helps keep people safe. Mentioning local landmarks or neighborhoods localizes the event to help your community assess the risk and understand the potential for personal impact.
3. Information should be actionable. Information without a call to action can leave people concerned or fearful. Instead, give people access to resources and actions so they can be as prepared as possible in the event of a flood. Consider offering preparedness tips (i.e. buying flood insurance, creating evacuation plans, floodproofing your home, and creating kits for emergencies) and solutions being used in other areas.

Want to see these tips in action? We used these tricks and more in our work translating a nearly 200-page technical document into a 20-page visual, public-friendly report on climate for Piedmont Environmental Council and Albemarle County. In the section on changing precipitation, we used local, county-level data to illustrate the past and future increase in precipitation as well as incorporating quotes about flooding impacts from people living and working in the County to keep things local and relatable to our audience. We also included numerous visuals and callout boxes to explore terms, such as floodplains and how they will change in the future. Lastly, we called out the impacts of flooding in its own section, highlighting risks to the community, economic costs, threats to infrastructure, and environmental impacts. 

Ultimately, floods are unavoidable, but with effective communication and outreach, you can help keep people informed and ready to respond in the event of a flood. Need communication support? Reach out to us hello@greenfinstudio.com.