NCST Technical 

Investigation of 

Hurricane Maria’s 

Impacts on Puerto Rico:

Goal 3: The performance of emergency 

communications systems and the public’s 

response to such communications

Aug 30, 2018

NCST Advisory 

Committee Meeting

Erica Kuligowski

Leader, NCST Investigation of Hurricane Maria

National Institute of Standards and Technology
NCST Goal 3: The Performance of Emergency Communications 

Systems and the Public’s Response to Such Communications
Project: Public Response to Emergency Communications 

during Hurricane Maria

• Project Objective: To investigate the role of 

emergency communications in public 

response for those under imminent threat 

from Hurricane Maria. This project will also 

investigate the use of communications in 

disaster response (during and immediately 

after the hurricane event).

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Background

• NIST’s preliminary reconnaissance of Hurricane Maria (Puerto Rico) 

highlighted severe evacuation and emergency response challenges:

• The threat of a Category 5 hurricane hitting an island that had just been 

affected by Hurricane Irma two weeks prior

• An island’s heterogenous terrain that posed different risks (flooding, heavy 

winds, storm surge, landslides), requiring different protective actions

• Societal preference for sheltering in place

• Lack of communication between emergency and building officials, and with 

the public for extended periods of time

• Many people/families requiring rescues, e.g., from flooding in multiple towns 

on the island
Project’s Preliminary Investigation Plan (1/5)

• Conducting interviews and surveys in selected communities throughout the 

Commonwealth (focusing in 4 specific emergency management zones)

• Communities should be chosen based on factors associated with public response 

during hurricanes, e.g., 

• Pre-hurricane household characteristics

• Number of shelters available (pre-hurricane)

• Hurricane Maria exposures/intensity of exposures (predicted and actual), receipt of 

evacuation orders

• Geographic location on the island (e.g., coastal, inland)  Potentially known risks of 

flooding and landslides (e.g., living in areas that have flooded before and/or were mapped 

flood-prone regions)

• Hurricane Maria impacts to communities (e.g., loss of telecommunications, deaths/injuries)
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Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

(https://www.fema.gov/data-visualization-floods-data-visualization)
FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer Viewer

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Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

https://hazards-fema.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=8b0adb51996444d4879338b5529aa9cd&extent=-

66.10855477558432,18.39874546056363,-66.06701272236057,18.419105075445096
Project’s Preliminary Investigation Plan (2/5)

• Open-ended interviews conducted with regional and local 

emergency managers and other officials responsible for 

communication with the public from the selected 

communities

• Information will be collected on the following:

• Pre-hurricane communication procedures/plans

• Situational awareness prior/during Hurricane Maria

• Decisions made about communicating with the public

• Types of information provided to the public before/during the 

hurricane via multiple channels (e.g., social media, television/radio, 

Internet, etc.)

• Challenges encountered in communicating with each other and the 

public during and days after the event
Project’s Preliminary Investigation Plan (3/5)

• Structured surveys with sampled households within each of the 

selected communities

• Information will be collected on the following:

• Pre-hurricane preparedness activities

• Types of emergency information sought/received before/during the hurricane

• Perceptions of this emergency information

• Subsequent responses to this information (over time)

• Information needs during/after the event

• Challenges encountered in obtaining information during and for days after the 

event
Project’s Preliminary Investigation Plan (4/5)

• NEW (Since May 2018 presentation): Open-ended interviews conducted 

with some percentage of the households surveyed to better understand 

particular experiences

• In-depth information may be collected on the following:

• Perceptions of risk associated with hurricane and/or flooding/landslide hazards

• Perceptions of emergency information received prior to the hurricane

• Experiences in obtaining information during and for days after the event

• Influence of experiences with Hurricane Irma on response in Hurricane Maria

• Others, based upon information that we gather during our (pilot) surveys
Project’s Preliminary Investigation Plan (5/5)

• NEW: Collecting messages disseminated to Puerto Rico 

(individuals/households) before the hurricane hit

• Messages will be collected from multiple sources, including but not 

limited to:

• National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service Weather Forecast 

Office (San Juan)

• Governor of Puerto Rico and La Fortaleza (Official Office of the Governor)

• State Agency for Emergency Management and Disaster Management 

(AEMEAD)

• Media (e.g., broadcast meteorologists) 

• Messages disseminated via multiple channels will be collected, 

including but not limited to:

• Online/websites

• Twitter

• Facebook

• NOAA Weather Radio

• Television/radio
Progress Updates (1/2)

• Traveled to Puerto Rico: August 20-23, 2018

• Contract for survey research services has been written and submitted to NIST’s 

Acquisitions Management Division

• Types of information gathered on emergency communications so far:

• National Hurricane Center weather advisories for Hurricane Maria1

• National Weather Service Hurricane Local Statements disseminated by the San Juan Weather 

Forecast Office (WFO) (obtained through the Iowa Mesonet2)

• Facebook and Twitter messages sent by San Juan WFO, AEMEAD, Governor Rossello and La 

Fortaleza accounts3

• Videos of press conferences given by Governor Rossello before the hurricane

• A list of all Puerto Rican radio and television stations was developed

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1 https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2017/MARIA.shtml

2 https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/

3 Messages disseminated during time frames prior to Hurricane Maria and prior 

to Hurricane Irma
Progress Updates, ongoing (2/2)

• Collecting emergency communications from Puerto Rican television and 

radio stations, messages sent / videos posted by broadcast meteorologists, 

from publicly available sources

• Collecting information on sampling strategies used in other 

hurricane/disaster research (surveys of the public)

• Collecting surveys/interviews from research on hurricane 

evacuation/response 

• Categorizing the questions asked of the public and information providers

• Reaching out to other researchers to inquire about their surveys/interview 

instruments

• Currently interviewing candidates for a 2-year term (full-time) to work on 

this project

• Developing a better understanding of our potential sampling area:

• Creating heat maps of flood warnings from Hurricane Maria

• Identifying locations of previous flooding/landslide events and flood-prone regions 

in Puerto Rico

• Identifying areas evacuated before AND after the hurricane

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Next Steps

• Sampling strategies among selected communities (TBD) will be 

developed

• Contract will be awarded and work plan will be developed 

• Survey and interview protocols will be created

• PRA/IRB approvals will be obtained for the protocols, as necessary

• Pilot testing will be performed on the survey instrument
NCST Preliminary Project 

to Study Emergency 

August 30, 2018 Communications

NCST Advisory 

Committee Meeting

Erica Kuligowski

National Institute of Standards and Technology

U.S. Department of Commerce

Questions?