Hurricane Sandy Communication by FHA Professional Writing

The linear model of communication contains the following components:

Who?

Says What?

To Whom?

What Effect?

In What Context?

This model could have been applied not only between the FHA and insured home owners, but also between the FHA and other agencies attempting to mitigate the situation. This would have relieved much of the anxiety and stressed experienced by already unhappy, stressed citizens, as suggested by the social exchange model of communication. According to this model, communication is social interaction. What this means in practice is that the communication media we have today could have served much better as a mitigator of conflicting information and the stress associated with this. Although the FHA (2013) has placed a large amount of information on its Web site, it could also have made use of social media such as Facebook and even Twitter to maintain brief updates. These could have created a much better basis of reassurance than a formal exchange of letters, some of which took months in the writing.

It is also important to create communications models with the audience in mind. For insurance, emergency, and government agencies, there are two types of audiences; officials assisting with the disaster and those affected. For those affected, communicators of information need to keep in mind the message factors within the communication model, which include the following:

Call-to-action

One sided v. two-sided

Fear

Testimonials/examples

Statistics

These factors suggest that communication needs not only be clear and statistically accurate, but also focused on the alleviation of fear and uncertainty.These are the most important focus point of communication during a disaster.

In conclusion, any federal, official, or insurance agency directly involved in the mitigation and rebuilding process should create clear and consistent communication channels not only from agency to citizen, but also among agencies themselves. Clear and public collaboration processes, for example, will go very far in alleviating the fears and uncertainty experienced by citizens. In order to do this, agencies should use all communication channels at their disposal, including press releases, official letters, and less formal media options such as social networks.

References

Barron, J., Lipton, E., and Rivera, R. (2012, Nov. 5). With $200 Million in U.S. Housing Aid, Officials Begin Relocating the Displaced. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/06/nyregion/housing-relocation-begins-after-hurricane-sandy.html?_r=0

CBS News (2012, Nov. 6). Sandy-affected homeowners face long insurance wait. Retrieved from: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57545785/sandy-affected-homeowners-face-long-insurance-wait/

CBS News (2012, Nov. 6). Sandy Victims' Concerns: Voting, housing, power. Retrieved from: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57545592/sandy-victims-concerns-voting-housing-power/

Federal Housing Administration (2013). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/FHAFAQ.....