Would you evacuate?
I recently came across an interesting poll that questioned 5000 people aged 18 or older that lived within 20 miles of the coast from Texas to North Carolina. The subject was hurricanes, and how prepared people are for a hurricane. The poll was conducted by Harvard University professor Robert Blendon, and tends to suggest that people become complacent as time passes from a big storm. The poll found that 31 percent of people said that they would not evacuate if ordered to do so. Compare this to last year, when just 23 percent of people said they would not evacuate. It seems that the quiet 2006 hurricane season may have emboldened those that were ready to evacuate after the busy 2005 season.
Some of the reasons that people give for not evacuating.... people think that their houses are well built and sturdy enough to withstand a hurricane. The evacuation routes will be too crowded. Fleeing would be dangerous. Not wanting to leave behind a pet is also listed as a reason.
Also of interest in this survey... 78 percent of people said they would be prepared if a major hurricane struck their area in the next 6 months. Five hundred of the respondents were from New Orleans. Six in ten people in New Orleans did not know where an evacuation shelter was located, compared to 4 of 10 people elsewhere. Also, 54 percent of New Orleans residents were confident that they would be rescued if needed, compared with 69 percent elsewhere.
Posted by
on 09/25 at 06:29 PM
