Jeannette Sutton PhD

We’ve got a lot of work to do across the entire warning system to improve. The tools to write effective messages have decades of research to back them. What and how to reduce alert fatigue needs attention now. Thanks for your work!

As you’re working on this, I’m working on how to better define and measure over alerting and warning fatigue. It’s been studied extensively in the aviation industry and healthcare but we have limited knowledge about it in public safety. Since alerts moved to our phones, it’s different.

I have that class too! My approach so far has been ‘here’s what the published literature says, now tell me what you’re seeing in the real world this week.’

We are loving your updates about Jeff. Please keep them coming.

M 3.0 - 0 km NE of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey Plus a map of where it hit near NYC

People in NYC/NJ seem — yes that was an earthquake. A small one, but still. Tell USGS if you felt it here:

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...

From printing presses to Facebook feeds: What yesterday’s witch hunts have in common with today’s misinformation crisis Who bears responsibility when false information leads to real harm?

The witch hunts of 1400-1780 and today's misinformation crisis have striking parallels.

Both were fueled by new media technologies that allowed false information to spread rapidly and widely. buff.ly/6RFALyJ By Julie Walsh @wellesley.edu

Now Is a Really Bad Time for the Really Big One Job and funding cuts to federal emergency programs have the nation’s tsunami response experts, shall we say, concerned.

Just a few months ago, I did an entire piece about how the Trump administration is completely gutting our tsunami warning infrastructure and endangering lives… heatmap.news/adaptation/t...

A revision to M8.8 by the USGS. This earthquake off the coast of Russia is now the strongest observed across the globe since 2010. Only 5 stronger earthquakes have been measured by humans.

Tsunami Warning remains in effect for Hawaii with an ETA of 7:17pm HST

Woah. FEMA posted the NOFO for 2025. I am so surprised I nearly fell out of my seat.

Just in case anyone was wondering where science funding is going...

Why Nighttime Temps Matter In A Heat Wave | Weather.com When nighttime temperatures remain high during heat waves, your body can't recover from daytime heat stress, creating dangerous and potentially life-threatening conditions.

"Warm nighttime temperatures, especially 80F or warmer, do not allow people to recover from daytime heat. When warm low temperatures are combined with high humidity, conditions can become dangerous, if not deadly, even in the middle of the night."

#ClimateSky
#heatwave

weather.com/safety/heat/...

Seems to me this is one of the dangers of all highly sensitive warning systems. More minor events identified at the same time that major events have become prevalent. So lots of alerts. And it can be overwhelming.

We Have to Stop Using Facebook and X to Warn People About Disasters In the early morning hours of July 4th, as the Guadalupe River reached catastrophic heights, city officials in Kerr County, Texas turned to an all-too familiar mechanism for getting the word out to ar...

It's terrible that so many local authorities primarily attempt to communicate to the public via Twitter and Facebook, even for emergency alerts.

A long read by @faineg.bsky.social

little-flying-robots.ghost.io/we-have-to-s...

Safe travels!

Why this comment has weight:

Historically AccuWeather's politics have been right-wing. As Sen, Rick Santorum tried to forbid Natl Weather Service from making "consumer-friendly" forecasts, so AccuWeather could sell them. Trump tried to appoint AcWx head to run NOAA

www.cnn.com/2017/10/14/p...

Attending the Natural Hazards Workshop this week... missed it last year to hang out with a friend in Quebec... thought about missing it this year because, well, things in DC. Now, I'm just hopeful that it feels like a sort of support group for people who have research evidence that's ignored.

what the actual? Boulder, my alma mater, why?

omg. please don't let Texas/FEMA take a back seat. I've heard for days that "its not time to ask questions, it's time to pray for the safe recovery..." even said by some EMs who don't want to be seen as critical of peers. But if we let it slide, there's no accountability!

and if it makes me evil or a bad person to say that we need to learn what did happen so that we can prevent it in the future, well then so be it.

but it puts me in good company. with families who expect more from their government. with scientists who have spent decades identifying how to prevent these kinds of tragedies. with responders who have prepared and planned and practiced to prevent this from happening in their own community.

I guess I'm evil.

It's a dimension of over-alerting that the public we surveyed described as a problem of relevancy. What may be relevant to law enforcement or is an individual matter may not be relevant to the general public. I'm not sure how to sort that out though.

I've now spoken to a dozen reporters across the US and in London (BBC - airs tomorrow). From each person, I think what they have been looking for, is the moral voice who says out loud: "this is a tragedy that should never have happened" and call people to accountability. I am trying to be that.

This is why WEA is necessary and also a reason to use it responsibly so that people don’t turn it off!!!!!!!!!
Should I say it again? WEA is the most powerful alerting tool we have. Don’t misuse it and cause people to opt out.
You’re so much more vulnerable when traveling.

Ok. Adding volcano activity to the extreme weather occurring across the country was not in my list of expected risks for this week.

For some reason the people who write emergency messages aren’t always well trained. And the public are left to figure out whether they’re in danger or not.

The Problem With ‘Move to Higher Ground’ Even emergency alerts that reach people can be unclear.

A great piece of reporting about the floods in Texas that includes solutions. www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Not at all relevant to this story but my gods to see this woman parroting the talking points of this ugly ugly administration just represents an evil dressed up in mar a lago versions of beauty and it is vile.

FCC gets thousands of complaints over Blue Alert in Texas shooting The Blue Alert blared through cell phones and rattled devices, startling Texans with an unplanned awakening at 5 a.m.

Texas really said we’re going to send you alerts over the same channel we use for flood evacuations and tornado warnings every time a policeman is sad and so everyone stopped listening to them

I’m particularly galled by the quote from DHS secretary who says the admin is investing in warnings/tech solutions. As far as I am aware, that is untrue and there is no evidence to support it.