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Warning systems play a crucial role in disaster events on islands, some of the most vulnerable places in the world. They enable timely communication of risk, bolstering capacity and counterbalancing the negative force exerted by hazards, exposures, and vulnerabilities that threaten island communities. Disasters frequently result in the breakdown of communication due to both structural (i.e., power outages, failed telecommunications equipment, aging infrastructure) and nonstructural issues (i.e., governance, socioeconomic inequity, language barriers). Through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, document review and spatial data visualization, this dissertation compares the hurricane warning systems of two U.S. island cities: San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawaii, during Hurricane Maria (2017) and Hurricane Lane (2018), respectively. This talk will share research that proposes a conceptual framework for evaluating warning systems that takes into consideration the temporal aspects of warning. The framework illustrates the ways in which warning and planning are interrelated, as well as how planning and warning processes take place over time.
Lily Bui received her Ph.D. from MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, whose work focuses on disaster early warning systems on urban islands. She holds an S.M. from MIT’s Comparative Media Studies and a dual bachelor’s in International Studies and Spanish from her alma mater, University of California, Irvine. She serves as an advisory board member for UC Irvine’s Emergency Management and Disaster Recovery Certificate Program.
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