Problems of Communication during Natural Disaster of 2011 in Brisbane

This report examines the problems related to communication during the natural disaster of 2011 in Brisbane. The discussion refers to communication theory for identify the core issues of improper communication management and reveals the responsible units accountable for such crisis. The report concludes with recommendations that would help the management teams avoid such crisis in the future.

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Abstract:
This report examines the problems related to communication during the natural disaster of 2011
in Brisbane. The discussion refers to communication theory for identify the core issues of
improper communication management and reveals the responsible units accountable for such
crisis. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations that would help the management
teams avoid such crisis in the future.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 3
Overview of the situation.............................................................................................................3
Communication............................................................................................................................ 4
Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 5
Recommendations....................................................................................................................... 6
References.................................................................................................................................. 7

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Introduction
The purpose of this report is to conduct a research on the communication facility of the
stakeholders for suggesting ways for improvement. The discussion analyzes the communication
process, barriers and principles of stakeholders and identify the reasons behind the noticeable
gaps in communication. Following this the paper overviews the events and identifies the
reasons and people responsible for the issue. The content of research is backed with
communication theory and conclude with the key information and findings of the research.
Finally the report recommends two strategies the government or council should implement to
improve disaster management communication in the future.
Overview of the situation
The tremendous flooding throughout Queensland in early January 2011, rendered
theree quarters of the state a disaster zone. The City Council and the Meteorology Bureau
anticipated damage of 40,000 businesses and homes across Brisbane due to the flood. An
urgent communication between the Council and the residents as well as the businesses in the
affected area was necessary. The stakeholders of the crisis included the council members, the
business organizations and the residents of the city. The crisis was worsened due to the lack of
proper communication faculty. Some of the communication channels had failed, there were
power outages, and some communities were isolated. However, the M & C branch devised a
campaign to provide with crucial information on the flood to the residents of the state.
Communication
Based on the research, the city suffered serious communication issues during the flood
and both the residents and the Council were affected by it. An integral aspect of disaster
management is communication technology. The role of technology is equally important for all
the different phases of disaster management namely response, preparedness, mitigation and
recovery. Regular tools of communication like mobile phones may not work during natural
calamities like floods, storms and cyclones. The protection provided by the disaster
management forces should be immediate. The most critical problem with communication was
power outages. As per communication theory, the processes involved with human
communication is majorly based on technology, hence power cuts is the strongest barrier to
effective and urgent communication. The roads being blocked during the Brisbane flood, there
were issues with transportation and the disaster management could not travel to residential

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areas for spreading the word of mouth to people in jeopardy. Unstable network connections was
another threat to communication. People could not reach out to either the Council or family
members for help.
All the stakeholders of the crises were deeply affected by faulty communication facilities.
A crisis like that required constant interaction between the disaster management teams and the
residents who needed to be rescued. Apart from telecommunication applications, the city had
an active social media which was initially used as a channel for spreading information about the
imminent danger (Wattegamma 2014). These conduits were soon closed due to the lack of
internet connectivity. Even satellite signals and wireless modules of communication were
obstructed because of the flood. The management and planning of emergency communications
is intricately related to regulations and policies. Lack of regulatory and legal regimes are
reasons for failed telecommunications. The specialized services must cooperate horizontally at
every level since it is as important as vertical mediums of communication during emergencies.
The State Government along with the City Council is responsible for this crisis since they failed
to establish links between telecommunication authorities, service providers and disaster
coordinators. The enterprise of public communications have enjoyed monopoly, resulting to
predicaments like these and hence the government should take necessary steps to curb their
autonomy. According to the Shannon and Weaver model of communication theory, effective
communication should consist of transmitting crucial information from the sender to the receiver.
The disaster management resources of Brisbane lacked a proper transmitter and also suffered
technical malfunctioning in the procedure of communication. The council was largely
responsible for such mismanagement, as it evidently did not invest enough resources for
effective communication during natural disasters or any other crisis. Further, the team
responsible for communication management are too casual with their decision making process
(Barlund 2017) . Circumstances like these call for urgent communications between the State
heads and the disaster management forces so that they can come together to strike out a plan
for relief and recovery. The principles of communication in Brisbane are not concrete enough to
unite people during disasters.
Conclusion
The findings in the report indicate a vulnerability in technology-based communication.
The units allotted with the responsibility of disaster management need better and more frequent
interactions between each other for handling disasters and the affected people in a more
effective way. The businesses were as affected as the residents during the disaster. The

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Council is responsible for not taking necessary precautions to avoid the occurrence of such
circumstances. The city is not well adept with communication strategies during disasters and
requires better and renewed polices both for communication and disaster management. There
is also a noticeable lack of a proper announcement system for calamity preparedness.
Recommendations
The state requires an ideal communication system, adhering to the Shanon and Weaver
model. The flow of communication will be most effective if divided into sections of sender,
receiver and channel. The disaster management will need to make tangible investments on
emergency power plants and information technology for effective communication during
emergencies. The disaster management team may also introduce satellite and radio based
communication since the internet cannot be availed during natural disasters. Satellites are
capable of transferring data and information to geographically relevant places and does not
succumb to damage during disasters unlike telephonic and other media and internet-based
modes of communication. Radio networks are equally resistant to calamities and climatic
factors. For better management of communication during disasters, the corresponding council
may implement wireless communication which is modelled exclusively for emergency purposes.
An emergency number or a connection that is fixed and government approved would help in
critical times. This system should be simple and public friendly, centralized and uniform,
accessible to all sections of the society.

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References :
Austin, E.W. and Pinkleton, B.E., 2015. Strategic public relations management: Planning and
managing effective communication campaigns. Routledge.
Barnlund, D.C., 2017. A transactional model of communication. In Communication theory (pp.
47-57). Routledge.
Bohensky, E.L. and Leitch, A.M., 2014. Framing the flood: a media analysis of themes of
resilience in the 2011 Brisbane flood. Regional Environmental Change, 14(2), pp.475-488.
Rakshit, S.K., International Business Machines Corp, 2014. Communication management
method and system. U.S. Patent 8,775,530.
Ryan, B., 2010. Community communication during the Queensland floods.
Wattegama, C., 2014. ICT for disaster management.