Research articleOpen accessVol. 14, Issue 4, March 2026
- Published
- 31 March 2026
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
Abstract
Floods remain the world’s most frequent and socially regressive natural hazard, disproportionately affecting linguistically diverse and low-literacy communities. This manuscript examines how multilingual disaster-preparedness communication—spanning alerts, education, drills, and last-mile community engagement—improves risk comprehension and protective action in flood-prone states. Anchored in global frameworks (Sendai Framework), technical standards (Common Alerting Protocol; ISO 22324 colour-coded alerts), and impact-based early-warning guidance (WMO), we develop and test a mixed-methods model across five Indian flood-prone states (Assam, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala). We combine household surveys (N=2,500), message A/B tests in local languages (Assamese, Bengali, Odia, Malayalam, Hindi), and a quasi-experimental rollout of cell broadcast, SMS, WhatsApp text/voice, community radio, and ward-level loudspeaker networks. A logistic model estimates the odds of timely protective action (e.g., evacuation, asset elevation) within six hours of an official alert. Results indicate that (i) multilingual, plain-language alerts nearly double the odds of protective action compared to single-language messaging; (ii) voice-based and pictogram-supported messages are especially effective for low-literacy groups; (iii) CAP-profiled, colour-consistent alerts disseminated simultaneously across channels reduce confusion and “milling”; and (iv) trust increases when alerts are co-branded with local institutions and delivered by familiar community voices.
Keywords: Multilingual Alerts, Flood Preparedness, Early Warning, Common Alerting Protocol, ISO 22324, Impact-Based Forecasting, Risk Communication, Last-Mile Delivery
References
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How to cite
Dr. Saurabh Solanki (2026). Multilingual Disaster Preparedness Communication in Flood-Prone States. International Journal of Research in All Subjects in Multi Languages, 14(4).
Licence
This article is open access, published under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Copyright remains with the authors.