Recent emergency alerts have demonstrated an overreliance on digital tools.
Last summer, isen the days preceding major floods in Germany, it appeared as though local governments had adopted all possible measures to alert citizens. The government’s supercomputer had predicted severe flooding, with 90% certainty, entailing widespread warnings, via media, police and other emergency services. Nonetheless, many citizens remained in disbelief and were caught in the midst of the floodings. Similar events took place in New York and New Orleans in the wake of hurricane Ida, whereby people were purportedly overwhelmed by alerts, to the point of questioning their gravity.
Known as alarm fatigue, the phenomenon is caused by an overreliance on apps and other digital tools; most notable are phone notifications, as consumers are used to ignoring a great part of these, as a part of their daily life.
Consequently, governments and tech companies are investing in new alarm systems.
New York City’s mayor has recently announced a 2.1 billion dollar project that will support preemptive planning for worst-case scenario events, with a focus on storm modelling, monitoring and alarm systems.
Tomorrow.io, Israeli tech company that provides real-time weather forecasts for companies all around the world, is working with local governments to improve their alerts, making them more impactful to consumers.
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