Emergency Alert Systems

Exploring the Perspectives and Behavior of Populations With Limited-English Proficiency (LEP)

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Project Summary

This project, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), seeks to understand how populations with limited-English proficiency (LEP)—specifically Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese speakers—receive, perceive, and respond to emergency information about extreme weather events. This research builds upon a previous study, Inclusive Emergency Alerts for Colorado: An Assessment and Recommendations for Language and Disability Considerations, by speaking directly with LEP populations and community-based organizations serving these populations.

Project Purpose

Emergency alerting is essential to ensure that people are informed of extreme weather conditions and impacts, especially so that individuals, households, and communities can take action to protect themselves. This project aims to ensure that all people can receive accurate and accessible information in the wake of disasters by advancing understanding of effective channels for multilingual communication. Alerting authorities share multilingual emergency information in a variety of ways, but there is a need to determine whether people are receiving that information effectively and to identify potential changes they can strengthen messaging.

1. How do people receive and access emergency information. Some research exists about best practices for alert development and dissemination but less is known about the reach of that information.
2. Alerting for minority languages. Little research exists on emergency communication for Spanish speakers and there is almost none on Chinese, Vietnamese, or other languages.

Populations with LEP are more vulnerable to the risk of natural hazards. The research team will speak directly with community-organizations as well as Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese speaking populations in Colorado to understand if they are receiving this life-saving extreme weather information effectively.

Project Activities

We will conduct thirteen focus groups–six in Spanish, three in Chinese, three in Vietnamese, and one with community-based organizations serving LEP populations. Hearing the perspectives of LEP populations will allow us to identify common themes and factors that influence how they receive and process emergency weather information and identify opportunities for improvement. This work will provide critical insights into how emergency alerts and other extreme weather communication can better reach populations with LEP. Outcomes may include determining the most effective communication channels, improving alerting practices, creating appropriate messaging guidance, and identifying opportunities to increase trust between alert senders and the public.

Community Partners

We are partnering with the Spring Institute, a Colorado-based nonprofit that provides interpretation and translation services, English language classes and educational opportunities, and other support for immigrants and refugees in Colorado. As a trusted partner, the Spring Institute will help to organize and facilitate focus groups with community members.

This project is also supported by members of the Colorado Language Access Coalition (CLAC). CLAC is a statewide group of over 150 people who care deeply about language access. Members of CLAC advocate for systems-level change so every Coloradan can communicate and receive understandable information in the language they prefer.

Want to Partner with Us?

• Are you a community-based organization that serves populations with limited-English proficiency?
• Are you a community-based organization in Colorado that serves Vietnamese and/or Chinese speaking communities?
• Are you a community member in Colorado that speaks Spanish, Vietnamese, or Chinese?

Please reach out to Mary Angelica Painter at mary.painter@colorado.edu if you would like to be involved with the project or have any questions.

Expected Project Deliverables

Our planned deliverables include:

• A comprehensive report with insights into how LEP populations receive, perceive, and respond to emergency information and recommendations for alert senders, the National Weather Service, community-based organizations, and other partners that have an interest in risk communication with LEP populations.
• Academic publications for researchers to build on existing emergency alerting and risk communication literature.
• Outreach materials for LEP populations and the broader public to facilitate more effective and accessible emergency alerts.

Project Support

This work is made possible with support from the NOAA Weather Program Office (WPO) through the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Science (SBES) Program Competition (Award # NA25OARX459C0277-T1-01). We are grateful to NOAA WPO for this opportunity.

Natural Hazards Center Research Team and Community Partners

Principal Investigator: Mary Angelica Painter, Natural Hazards Center
Co-Principal Investigator: Carson MacPherson-Krutsky, Natural Hazards Center
Community Partners: Kate Greuel, Spring Institute; Amanda Bent, Spring Institute; Manuela Sifuentes, the City of Boulder
Research Collaborator: Melissa Villarreal, Natural Hazards Center
Graduate Students Assistant: Lý Minh Anh, Natural Hazards Center; Lambert Lin, Department of Environmental Studies