Effective Risk Communication for Disaster Response During Extreme Weather Events in a Changing Climate: The Puerto Rican Experience

Puerto Rico’s geographic location in the Caribbean renders it prone to hurricane threats every year. Over the past centuries, dozens of such natural phenomena have afflicted the archipelago causing devastation of its infrastructure, agriculture, housing, and economy, not to mention the people who have lost property, health, and even their lives. This chapter addresses the importance of effective risk communication for disaster response during extreme weather events, which in a changing climate, are expected to become even greater threats to larger numbers of people and places. As a preamble to recommendations to improve information gathering, dissemination and exchange during disasters, the chapter also brings attention to the long history of hurricanes that have afflicted Puerto Rico. Recommendations—such as including fostering trust and engaging with vulnerable populations, integrating emergency risk communication into health and emergency response systems, and the actual practice of strategic risk communication—are especially important given the foreseeable challenges stemming from climate changes in the Caribbean region.