When Communicating With Your Public, Timing is Everything
May 1, 2022
By Emily Kilroy, Director of Communications and Public Engagement, Albemarle County, VA
Much of Virginia experienced a severe winter storm in January 2022. In Albemarle County, 8 inches of heavy, wet snow was dumped over just a few short hours and heavy winds brought down thousands of trees and limbs all across the 726 square miles of our community – generating a historic number of downed powerlines and blocked roadways. VDOT estimates 125,000 cubic yards of debris have been removed from rights of way in Albemarle in the aftermath of the storm – more than any storm on record. In the hours following the storm, 70% of county residences were without power. Three days later, nearly 40% of residences remained without power, with overnight temperatures in the teens. As our emergency management team assessed community needs for shelter, potable and non-potable water, warming centers, charging stations, and WIFI, we realized just how reliant our communications channels are on access to electricity and internet – emails, social media, and our webpage – something huge swaths of our community were now without.
Our communications team mapped out a plan for using traditional media and localized on-the-ground methods for sharing information. In order to maximize press coverage, we held media briefings to provide convenient information for our local news media and conducted one-on-one follow-ups to ensure messaging remained in the daily news outlets and that resources were being accurately reflected in reporting. We created English and Spanish-language flyers listing available resources, as well as a webpage and a phone hotline that people could call for the latest information to meet their needs. Patrol officers posted the flyers in gathering areas across the county – crossroads and country stores, post offices, laundromats, and grocery stores. We used reverse 911 to share information to landline and cell phone numbers across the county. We posted electronic signboards on busy roadways as well. At the one-week mark, patrol officers conducted door-to-door wellness checks for the approximately 120 households that were still without power.
Overall, our communications plan met its objectives – we had consistent and accurate media coverage across our local media market, insights on social media indicated saturation of messaging, there were steady calls to our information hotline, and strong utilization of the resources put into place for the community. But this weather event exposed a blind spot in our communications infrastructure – our team scrambled to devise and disseminate information. It was an important reminder that a good communications program must be matched with strong direct connections with community organizations and neighborhood champions that can help share information through their grassroots networks.
As the days are now getting longer and the trees are now budding, we’re working to address just that. We are building hyper-local connections with the community by popping up at locations across the county to meet people and create a database of neighbors who want to help their neighbors during a significant event. We’re working with interns to collect contact information for community organizations and neighborhood associations that can help with information sharing. We still need our digital communications tools – but we cannot forget the importance of direct connections with the communities we serve.