Change of Risk Perception and Risk Communication in Co. Cork, Ireland after Storm Ophelia (2017)

Communication with the public about the risk of natural hazards (NHs) is important to enable community resilience and encourage autonomy in handling NHs impacts. The need for communication becomes even more crucial as NHs become more frequent and intense due to climate change. Among these NHs are hurricanes that, due to warmer sea surface temperatures and decreased vertical wind shear, can undergo extratropical transition and reach northern latitudes including NW Europe and Ireland more easily. As a result, the potential impact of extratropical remnants of hurricanes is increasing in Ireland. On the 16^th of October 2017, ex-Hurricane, or post-Tropical cyclone (PTC), Ophelia made landfall on the south-west coast of Ireland causing severe disruption across the southern half of Ireland, especially Co. Cork. This study assesses the risk perception of the people in Co. Cork towards NHs, especially hurricanes and their satisfaction with risk communication following Ophelia. A standardised survey methodology (n=89) was employed to analyse the risk communication chain, content, and media and to obtain suggestions for communication improvement using expert interviews. The results show that 55% of respondents are not overly concerned about being affected by NHs but that, after being affected by Ophelia, they are aware of the risks of hurricanes. The study also shows that 60% perceive hurricanes as being of higher risk in the future. Overall, 55% and 64% of the participants are satisfied with the communication on the threats from this event and how to behave during Ophelia, respectively. Improvements were suggested by the public and by experts in terms of better information and training for the public in dealing with these events. It was also suggested that a more robust electricity supply system is needed given the frequency of outages during major windstorm events including this one.