MAS ALLÁ DE LAS PALABRAS: LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND MEANING IN SPANISH TROPICAL WEATHER MESSAGES

Abstract

The Spanish-speaking population in the United States continues to grow, and Spanish is currently the second most spoken language in the country. Despite this demographic shift, most weather risk information provided by the National Weather Service (NWS) is primarily produced in English. To improve accessibility, recent efforts have explored the use of artificial intelligence to translate weather information into Spanish. However, it is important to evaluate whether these translations effectively communicate risk and support appropriate warning responses among Spanish speakers. In addition, is important to recognize that Spanish speakers come from different cultural backgrounds, disaster subcultures, and lived experiences that shape their risk perceptions and warning responses to tropical weather informationThis dissertation focuses on the communication of tropical weather messages and examines how Spanish-speaking communities interpret and respond to translated alerts. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study combines quantitative survey data with qualitative interviews. The first part of the research uses a survey experiment to examine how Spanish speakers evaluate the quality of AI-generated translations of tropical weather alerts and how these perceptions influence warning responses (understanding, belief, perrsonalization, self-efficacy and response-efficacy). Through interviews, the second part of the dissertation explores how lived experiences, cultural backgrounds, and disaster subcultures shape how Spanish speakers perceive tropical hazards and respond to warnings. These interviews also help identify gaps in the information currently provided to Spanish-speaking communities and highlight barriers that may affect access to or understanding of weather risk information. Together, these complementary studies provide a more comprehensive understanding of how translation quality, lived experiences, and cultural context influence warning interpretation and response. The findings aim to provide recommendations to improve the accessibility, clarity, and effectiveness of tropical weather communication for Spanish-speaking communities in the United States.