After the hurricane preparedness and the disaster is over

Hurricane preparedness includes when the disaster is over with

In French there is a word called “denouement” when translated means “unknotting” or “unwinding”. It can also mean ‘falling action” when it is at the end of a novel or in a disaster situation. It refers to the results of an intense reaction that has built up over time in a complex situation or multiple sequences of events. In a novel it is generally the aftermath or resolution found in the final stages of a story.

In critical incident / disaster thanatology (the study of death, dying, grief, loss and disasters) there is a ‘disaster denouement’ that occurs for all those who are in someway involved in a disaster or potentially disastrous event. This is true for disaster victims, emergency responders and media reporters as well as the general public who are concerned and to some extend emotionally attached to the outcome of the disaster situation.

For a period of time from before the disaster occurs to days, weeks an months after the disaster, individuals and groups will experience the thanostic denouement experience of the unwinding of the emotional surge that the potential or actual event causes. Ask any fire fighter or EMT about the emotional stand-down that they may experience after stressful and high adrenalin rush event.

Meteorologist, weather forecasters and reporters are no different; they are human and have the same emotional experiences as others in critical incident situations. So sure when you are watching a disaster report or a potential disaster situation and there seems to be some ‘let down’ or as some have viewed it as disappointment there is going to be critical incident denouement both on-air as well as behind the camera or microphone.

This is not to also say there is a void in all disasters of what is know as critical incident economics (death, dying, bereavement. Loss and disaster related economic issues). Television, radio, newspaper, websites are in someway or another influenced or involved in thanostic economics. That is how services are offered to the public and salaries are paid and the lights are kept on at the various reporting offices.

The issue is not so much that there is critical incident thanostic economics but the ethics involved and how that is played out. Often there is a balance like a wind chime that must be balanced intentionally so that the chimes ring pure and harmoniously giving a pleasant tune when the winds blow. In a disaster the winds blow intensely and the balance can be hard to keep! The better the quality of the wind chimes and the medial reports the more likely the chimes reports will stay in ethical tune even when they ring the loudest due to the strong winds of disaster.

Weather reporting in a disaster needs to strongly encourage views, listeners and readers to take shelter and be safe in a potential or actual natural disaster situation. It would be irresponsible of them not to do so. There is also a responsibility to be as accurate in the scientific art of meteorology as well.

All involved from weather forecasting industry to the audiences themselves need to learn more about critical incident thanatology and the emotional affects it has on individuals before, during and after a disaster event and to act accordingly. The better educated all are the better the response to disasters will be.

There is a great deal of weight on the shoulders of those who represent the meteorological sciences. If they are scientifically in error in their scientific predictions and a mass evacuation is called or even schools are closed for the day(s) the impact is significant and compounding.

Hostility by the public is most often not the best instrument to find the maximum balance so the most members of the community can be served the best.

Eyes turn to Ike

By Charles Elmore | Wednesday, September 3, 2008, 12:23 PM

Hanna is softening, but Ike is on pace to get a lot meaner.

Wind shear is slowing Hanna’s momentum and pushing its projected path to the north, away from Florida. Ike, right behind it, is expected to become at least a Category 3 hurricane.

Ike should be packing 115 mph winds and parked on the doorstep of the Bahamas by Monday at 8 a.m., according to Wednesday’s latest projections.

“Ike is on the cusp of being a hurricane and should be one later today,” National Hurricane Center senior hurricane specialist Richard Knabb wrote in the 11 a.m. discussion. Ike’s winds were clocked at 70 mph, just below hurricane status.

“The underlying ocean temperatures will only get warmer along the forecast track,” Knabb wrote. A ridge of high pressure building in the western Atlantic could push Ike to the west and southwest in a couple of days — which probably means no quick right turn to steer it northward, away from Florida.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/stormblog/