Why 'Natural Disasters' Is a Dangerous Myth (+ What Smart Communicators Do Instead)

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Dear reader,

In this week's edition of the Wag The Dog newsletter, we're tackling the outdated language of disasters.

Cambridge researcher Maximillian Van Wyk de Vries dropped a bombshell in his latest paper: there's almost nothing "natural" about most hazards anymore.

Earthquakes trigger landslides on deforested slopes. Floods devastate cities built in harm's way. Hurricanes supercharged by the climate crisis slam into rapidly developing coastlines.

For those of us writing emergency alerts or crafting public information campaigns, it changes everything about how we explain threats and motivate action. The comfortable division between "acts of nature" and "human activity" has collapsed, and our messaging needs to catch up fast.

How are you handling multihazard messaging in your organization? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences with this evolving challenge.

Kind regards, Philippe

Table of Contents

• Introduction

• The false dichotomy

• What does this mean for crisis communication profe …

• A new definition

• Better ways for crisis communicators

• References and further reading.

• Sponsor

• What I am reading/testing/checking out:

Introduction

The recent floods in Jakarta weren't just bad luck. The earthquakes that shook Oklahoma weren't purely acts of God. And the landslides that cut off access to villages in Nepal weren't an isolated incident.

Welcome to the world of multi-hazards, where the line between "natural" and "man-made" is becoming increasingly blurred.

A compelling new article in “All hazards are multihazards; few of them are natural” by Dr Maximillian Van Wyk de Vries of Cambridge University challenges us to rethink our fundamental understanding of hazards and disasters.

This research fits perfectly with the Universal Adaptive Crisis Communication (UACC) framework that I developed. In an era of interconnected crises, where events rarely occur in isolation, our approach to crisis management must adapt accordingly.

The false dichotomy

For decades, we have assumed a comforting fiction that separates "natural hazards" from "human activities." Floods, earthquakes, and storms were natural events, while infrastructure failures and pollution were human problems.

This distinction has always been problematic, but in today's world it's simply misleading.

Take Jakarta, where flooding isn't only caused by heavy rainfall. It's a perfect storm of a climate crisis that is changing weather patterns, groundwater extraction that is causing the city to sink, sea level rise due to global warming and urban development that is preventing natural runoff.

Or look at the 2023 glacial lake flooding in Sikkim, India. This was no accidental overflow of a lake. It was triggered by a landslide into a proglacial lake that had formed because the climate crisis was driving glacier retreat. The cascade continued when a dam downstream burst.

These aren't isolated examples — they're the new normal. They epitomise what the UACC framework refers to as "perma-crisis and interlinked crisis concepts" – situations in which multiple challenges occur simultaneously and reinforce each other's effects.

What does this mean for crisis communication professionals?

For those working in emergency communications, public information, and crisis messaging, this shift is changing the way we do our jobs.

1. Move beyond single-hazard communication.Your flood-fighting communications fall short if they don't also address associated risks such as landslides, infrastructure failures or evacuation issues. As Van Wyk de Vries noted, "earthquakes in deforested areas can trigger additional landslides, damming rivers and increasing flood risk." Your communication must take this reality into account.

2. Tell the whole story behind every disaster: Hurricanes are intensifying due to the climate crisis. Hillsides collapse when we build roads. Cities sink because of groundwater pumping. If we treat disasters as mere "natural events"," we miss half the story. Good communication makes these human connections clear.

3. Build flexible messaging systems.The Sendai Framework advocates early warning systems for multiple hazards. For us communicators, this means we need to create a messaging approach that adapts to evolving, interconnected threats. We must no longer treat every threat as if it exists in a vacuum.

4. Rethink preparedness messaging. We've spent years telling people what to do in a disaster. Now we need to help them understand why disasters happen when hazards collide with vulnerable communities. Our messages should address both sides of this equation — the event and the underlying vulnerabilities.

5. Prepare templates but stay nimble.The UACC Framework hits the nail on the head. We need ready-made materials that we can deploy immediately, but disasters require real-time adjustments. Think modular messages that you can quickly reassemble as the situation changes.

A new definition

Van Wyk de Vries proposes to redefine "natural hazards" as: "interconnected geological and/or meteorological processes that are often influenced by or interacting with anthropogenic activities and that can cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation."

This is a profound change that recognises the reality: there is no longer a clear dividing line between "nature" and "human activities".

Better ways for crisis communicators

How can we put this into practise?

First, tear down the walls between the experts. Your science communicator, your PIO, your social media manager and your community liaison need to work in lockstep. The UACC framework calls this comprehensive stakeholder engagement — everyone needs to be brought to the table to ensure complete and consistent communication across all channels.

Second, make the complex understandable. When multiple hazards collide with human systems, simple explanations fall flat. We need new approaches to explain these connections without drowning people in details.

Third, speak to hearts as well as minds. Communities experience disasters through their own cultural and emotional lens. The UACC framework emphasises this: Messages must respect cultural differences while providing emotional support through language that acknowledges fears and concerns.

Finally, you should move from reactive to preventative communication. When hazards become disasters and hit vulnerable communities, our messages should help people understand and address these vulnerabilities before the next storm hits, the next fault line erupts, or the next slope sinks.

The number of deaths caused by disasters has fallen sharply over the last century — an extraordinary achievement. But to maintain this trend, we need to realise how interconnected today's hazards are.

Van Wyk de Vries puts it succinctly:

For this reason, I developed the Universal Adaptive Crisis Communication (UACC) Framework² . It provides a structured yet adaptable approach to navigating our increasingly convoluted risk landscape.

Its four-phase process— - thorough preparation, targeted training, crisis response and post-crisis evaluation — helps communicators craft messages that reflect the chaotic, multi-hazard world Van Wyk de Vries describes.

In the next newsletter, I'll take a closer look at the UACC framework and how its approach to stakeholder engagement, cultural awareness, and balanced communication strategies can change the way we talk about disasters in our hyperconnected world.

References and further reading.

1  References: Van Wyk de Vries, M. (2025). All hazards are multihazards, few of them are natural. npj Natural Hazards, 2:18. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44304-025-00071-w

2  Borremans, P. (2024). The Universal Adaptive Crisis Communication (UACC) Framework. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

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What I am reading/testing/checking out:

• Slides: 10 Frameworks for Systems Change

• Tool: Rork builds complete, cross-platform mobile apps using AI and React Native.

• Article: Why Preparedness Wins In A Perma-Crisis World

Let’s meet!

PS: I hope you've enjoyed this newsletter! Creating it each weekend is a labour of love that I provide for free. If you've found my writing valuable, the best way to support it is by sharing it with others. Thank you for reading!

_{Parts of this newsletter were created using AI technology to draft content. In addition, all AI-generated images include a caption stating, 'This image was created using AI'. These changes were made in line with the transparency requirements of the EU AI law for AI-generated content. Some links in this newsletter may be affiliate links, meaning I earn a small commission if you click and make a purchase; however, I only promote tools and services that I have tested, use myself, or am convinced will make a positive difference.}