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Disasterology: Dispatches From the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis
Samantha Montano. 2021. Park Row Books. [ISBN 978-0-7783-1103-4. 380 pages, including index. US$28.99 (hardcover).]

by Geoffrey Hart

Previously published as: Hart, G. 2022. Book review: Disasterology: Dispatches From the Frontline of the Climate Crisis. Technical Communication 69(3):97.

Disasterology is a science that combines mitigation (detection and reduction of risks) with preparation (developing plans and response capacity), response, and recovery. Disaster managers determine how to cope when emergencies (which can be handled with local resources) evolve into disasters (which require external support) and disasters into catastrophes.

Disasterology: Dispatches From the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis begins with an anonymous epigram: “At the start of every disaster movie, there’s a scientist being ignored.” The sentiment’s familiar to any scientific communicator. Unfortunately, unlike disaster movies, life doesn’t promise a happy ending. New Orleans after hurricane Katrina taught many Americans that governments can no longer be trusted to protect them from disasters or help them recover. This isn’t just an American problem.

Disasters rarely happen without warning; most are preceded by slowly accumulating signs that governments ignore, particularly for “something happening to people [you] did not  know in a city [you] had never seen” (p. 28). Montano reminds us that a disaster’s visible damage may be impressive, but it’s less important than the severe but invisible damage to victims. Survivors “are not a life lesson for [us]. They are people...who need [our] help” (p. 94).

Though supported by an extensive literature review, Disasterology isn’t a scholarly book. It’s a deeply personal, often infuriating, account of Montano’s journey. She anchors her story in the government’s ineffective response to restoring New Orleans, where Montano worked as a volunteer, and ends with the catastrophic mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s not a comforting read, since the “inherent heartbreak of disaster work [is that] no matter how much good you do, it won’t ever be enough” (p. 78).

The biggest problem is that governments at all levels emphasize reactive approaches, which are insufficient, too expensive, and too slow. Instead, we must push governments towards a proactive approach designed to reduce disaster frequency and severity. The book’s subtitle reminds us that it’s no longer a question of whether we’ll suffer from climate change, but rather how badly and whether we’ll act soon enough to reduce the suffering.

Disadvantaged communities are disproportionally affected. They pose a difficult communication challenge because they often combine low education and literacy with strong (and well-earned) distrust of government. Impenetrable government language and strangling red tape exacerbate these problems. Oral communication becomes important and requires the ability to translate complex information into something normal people can understand. The news media and social networks are also essential, since no news does not mean good news: “In a disaster, silence is the scariest sound” (p. 226).

Climate change is already increasing disaster frequency and severity, and we can no longer afford to simply create plans that will be shelved and forgotten. Instead, these plans must become living documents that help us work together and force governments to act now to reduce the risk of disaster and allocate sufficient resources to reduce the human cost.

©2004–2024 Geoffrey Hart. All rights reserved.