Stakeholders' Perceptions of the 2023 Historic Floods in Vermont: Risk Communication, Crisis Response, Vulnerability and Lessons Learned International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference Proceedings

In July 2023, the state of Vermont experienced a powerful storm that rapidly unleashed as much as 9 inches of rain over the course of around 48 hours, causing flooding across the state. Advanced forecasts failed to capture the severity of the storm, leaving communities with limited time to prepare, while local officials had little time to plan and communicate. Three focus groups were held with a group of stakeholders who work in the Winooski River watershed of Vermont, a region particularly affected by the floods. These participants had first-hand experience from working during this historic crisis. The first focus group collected data describing how these stakeholders would respond to a "potential" crisis. It fortuitously occurred months before an actual crisis. This allowed for collection of pre- and post-crisis data, which gave this study a unique temporal assessment of how the risk and crisis communication process unfolded, providing distinctive learning outcomes and recommendations that can, ultimately, help to save lives and infrastructure impacted by future flood events. Grant no. NA22NWS4320003