A Systematic Review of Design Elements for Risk Communication in Hurricane Hazard Maps

Hurricanes are among the most destructive natural hazards. Effective risk communication through hurricane hazard maps is essential for reducing vulnerability to hazards. This paper examines how the public comprehends the design elements of risk category systems (colors, labels, and numbers of threat levels) in hazard maps through a systematic literature review and translates this evidence into recommendations for hurricane hazard map design. From an initial pool of 706 articles, 16 studies were selected for analysis. Key findings indicate that sequential color palettes such as yellow-to-red are preferred over rainbow schemes, that five to seven discrete risk classes support comprehension without overloading users, and that redundant encoding through labels and direct annotations improves accessibility for users with color vision deficiency. Findings provide insights for improving hurricane hazard map design and enhancing the communication of actionable hazard information.