Emergency Managers’ Attitudes about Communication of Hazard Vulnerability by Monuments and Historical Markers

Abstract

The utility of communicating hazard vulnerability to the public through monuments and historical markers commemorating and describing past disasters is explored in this paper. A survey of county emergency management directors in Wisconsin focused upon their awareness of such monuments and their attitudes regarding the effectiveness of disaster markers and commemoration in communicating hazard risk to the public, both residents and visitors. Emergency managers held disparate views regarding the effectiveness of the markers among the public, although managers in counties with markers tended to hold a higher opinion of their effectiveness in communicating hazard risk and to be more willing to commemorate future disasters.