Examining Geographic Variations in Household Disaster Preparedness across the United States

Keywords: disasters, natural hazards, fema, preparedness, multilevel models, survey data
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 46

Abstract

Disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, severe storms, and man-made technological disasters can have costly and deadly consequences to society and the environment. In order for humans to better cope with the consequences of a disaster, we employ a number of adaptive measures that increase preparedness and resilience and decrease vulnerability and damages. These measures range from national, state and local government efforts to the individual, household, and community level; such as an evacuation plan or a surplus of supplies. Comprehensive national data on disaster preparedness are not collected systematically at geographic scales relevant to decision-makers, such as states, counties, cities, and neighborhoods. This lack of data may prevent decision makers and researchers from fully understanding how prepared the country is across geographic scales, potentially limiting disaster planning, communication, and response. To address this challenge, we use newly released primary data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Household Survey (NHS), which are collected from a nationally representative sample (n ≅ 5000 each year from 2017-2020) that gauges the American public’s attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge regarding preparing for disasters. By developing a multilevel regression and poststratification (MRP) model, we develop new estimates and visualizations of household preparedness activity across the country at the state, county, and zip code tabulation area scale. Visualizations will be made available for decision makers, planners, and researchers through an online, interactive mapping tool to identify areas to increase disaster preparedness resources.