Communicating Hurricane Hazard through Houston Chronicle Cartography, 1945-2020

Keywords: Hazards, Cartography, Tropical Storms, Hurricane, Emergency Management
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

When facing a hazardous situation, the public often relies on maps to understand risks and to develop mitigation efforts. Although environmental risk and vulnerability can be influenced by numerous social and geographic factors, and can change over time, cartographic visualizations and spatial analysis have historically been employed to quantify, qualify, plan for, mitigate, and react to environmental hazards. However, for the public to prepare for hazards they must first be made aware of the risks they face. Although social media has become a ubiquitous resource for public information on natural hazards and during natural disasters, often popular press, such as newspapers and television/cable channels, play an important role in disseminating risk communications to their respective audiences. This is especially true in decades prior to the development of the internet and the emergence of online media.

This research examines both the ways in which hazard maps, specifically hurricane maps, have been used to communicate information about hurricane risk to the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area (Houston MSA), and how these maps have evolved through developments in cartographic techniques and technology. This research focuses on Atlantic hurricane maps published in the Houston Chronicle from 1945 to 2020. Importantly, the study period encompasses developments in cartographic technologies, including satellite imagery, weather radar, and global positioning systems, which helped evolve hazard maps from generalized line drawings to quantitative digital representations. Preliminary results indicate a greater emphasis on information dissemination rather than emergency preparedness and marked increases in map detail over time.