The One Thing That Went Right during Hurricane Sandy
Last week, as the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy gripped the country, most of the focus shifted to how catastrophic the damage was. In lieu of this damage, however, I feel that the government handled preparation relatively well. As a cohesive unit, the government took the necessary steps in preparing the citizens of the tri-state area for the impending disaster. For instance, government officials in New York and New Jersey informed residents of proper preparation procedures and even issued evacuation orders. President Obama canceled campaign visits across the country to do his part to communicate to the public the looming dangers of Hurricane Sandy. This constant communication not only allowed efficient interaction between government officials, but also helped to create an information cascade among the residents of the Tri-state area and the rest of the east coast.
This urgent media communication that the government implemented could be related to an informational cascade. In this cascade, the government assessed the state of the world to be bad, and sent out proper signals to everyone in danger. These signals varied on the level of extremity, but all of the signals pointed to the same conclusion: proactivity and preparation. Some were encouraged to evacuate their homes, while others were told just to take necessary precautions. Being a New Jersey resident, living ten minutes away from the shore, my family received their own personal signal and prepared for the worst. I, on the other hand, had received a separate signal (many, many times thanks to the flood of Cornell e-mails we received) informing me that the storm was being tracked and was not predicted to hit Ithaca. In this scenario, I had received three pieces of information: I knew there existed a cascade in my hometown, where everybody had decided to prepare for the storm, I knew my own family’s decision to prepare for the storm, and I also had my own personal signal. Knowing the cascade that had already formed and knowing that my family had decided in agreement with the cascade was enough for me to ignore my own personal signal and take the necessary precautions to prepare for the storm. This personal scenario depicts the forming of an information cascade created by the government, in which the extra knowledge I had received from my family swayed me to ignore my personal signal.
In my own opinion, I feel that the government did all the right things in preparation for this hurricane. Their media communication created an information cascade that was impossible to ignore, and allowed people to be proactive in preparing themselves and their families for the oncoming storm. Though the damage was considerable, this truly was a natural disaster that could not have been better prepared for. I believe in our government to lead the east coast in recovery: we will rebuild, we will restore, and I am Jersey strong.
Source: http://www.adviceunlimited.net/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=45:superstorm-sandy-inspires-proactive-communication-from-government&Itemid=100