Culture of preparedness: household disaster preparedness

Culture of preparedness:household disaster preparedness

Naim KapucuDepartment of Public Administration, University of Central Florida,

Orlando, Florida, USA

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to examine household preparedness in response to disasters and the roleof non-profit organizations in the public’s preparedness.

Design/methodology/approach – The study uses the context of hurricane preparedness of CentralFlorida residents, using the mail survey method as a data collection tool.

Findings – The findings of the study emphasize the importance of household and individualpreparedness in response to natural disasters, specifically to hurricanes. If individuals are not ready,then nobody is ready. The paper finds that households, even with significant experience of disasters,can be complacent in response to disasters.

Originality/value – The paper focuses on household preparedness and emphasizes that theemergency management community needs to make a significant effort in training households.

Keywords Natural disasters, Risk management, Community relations, Partnership,Non-profit organizations

Paper type Research paper

IntroductionThe recent increase of hurricane activities and other disasters, natural and man-made,stress the need for disaster preparedness. In 2004, four hurricanes hit Florida withinthe span of six weeks. More than 70 Floridians lost their lives and 2.3 million lostpower during Hurricane Jeanne alone, and total property damage for the 2004hurricane season in Florida was estimated at $25 billion (CNN, 2004). Despite thesestatistics, recent studies indicate that even in the aftermath of disasters caused byHurricane Katrina and Rita, Americans are still no better prepared (Waugh, 2006; Hsu,2005).

The White House (2006) Lessons Learned Report confirms the need in creating aculture of preparedness that emphasizes the shared responsibilities and disasterpreparedness at all levels of government and communities. Most people in disasterprone regions know they should prepare, but very few actually do. Real disasterpreparedness for individual citizens means being ready to help your family, friends,and neighbors when a disaster or an emergency strikes.

Recent disasters, such as hurricanes and wildfires underscore the need for currentaccurate information on household preparedness and community awareness. Thisstudy focuses on three research questions and will evaluate emergency preparedness ofCentral Florida households through the analysis of responses to a Red Cross survey.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/0965-3562.htm

The author is very grateful for the assistance of Lynn Hogan, a graduate student in theDepartment of Public Administration, and Marı́a A. Yabrudy, Communications Manager for theAmerican Red Cross of Central Florida.

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Disaster Prevention and ManagementVol. 17 No. 4, 2008pp. 526-535q Emerald Group Publishing Limited0965-3562DOI 10.1108/09653560810901773

First, the study provides a measure of how prepared Central Florida households are foran emergency. Second, the study identifies if there is a correlation between awarenessof emergency services and preparedness. Third, the study also identifies if there areany correlations between the level of emergency preparedness and variables of gender,age, income, ethnicity, household size, number of children in the household, housingstatus (own/rent), location, and length of residency.

Theoretical backgroundEmergency awareness and preparedness can be evaluated from many differentperspectives. The literature address some of these perspectives and providessuggestions concerning the need to prepare for different types of disasters, such asterrorists attacks, natural disasters, and house fires. Pielke and Pielke (1997) emphasizethe importance of disaster preparation in their vulnerability assessment. It “isimportant from the standpoint of providing relevant information to the process ofreducing a particular community’s vulnerability . . .Vulnerability Assessment is alsoessential to the process of effective allocation of scarce resources in this area [ofdisaster preparedness]” (Pielke and Pielke, 1997, p. 192). Fitzpatrick (1999) identifiesthreats to effective protection of communities struck by disasters stemming frompopulation growth, primarily new residence that have not lived through such stormsmay underestimate the importance of preparation and/or fail to obey evacuationorders. In addition, population growth causes traffic congestion that slows evacuationefforts thereby negating the effects of better storm path predictions.

Others identify the necessity for disaster preparedness and stress the urgency toprepare and to generate awareness for disaster preparedness. Notwithstanding the factthat the literature deals mostly with preparedness it cannot be ignored that awarenessneeds to come first. In an analysis of floods and tropical cyclones in relation toemergency preparedness, a consistent inadequacy for household preparedness forpredictable and regularly occurring hazards was found (King, 2000). It was discoveredthat many people were new to the area and were unaware of the severity of naturalhazards. Although most community respondents had an understanding of the severity,proving that public awareness campaigns had been successful, there were manymisconceptions regarding proper preparedness. The research concluded that specificand targeted education could help a community prepare for such predictable hazards,in turn limiting the loss of life and property.

Kapucu (2006) takes a unique perspective at preparedness from the standpoint ofthe public-nonprofit organizational partnerships. Kapucu studied cooperation betweenpublic and nonprofit organizations and what these organizations can do to be moreeffective in order to provide better service to the communities they serve during anemergency situation. Kapucu concludes that the responsibility of disaster response andpreparation is not the sole duty of the government, but rather that everyone needs tocontribute and through networking of many different types of organizations form aneffective plan for response and preparedness (also see McEntire, 2002).

Local public service organizations and nonprofits have a closer and vested interestin the communities they serve, therefore they have a sense of the pulse of the localcommunity, in the case of an emergency this local organizations can provide valuableintelligent aid to larger organizations to administer the community with a rapid and

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targeted aid that makes the difference between life and death. Every community has itsunique demographic structure as well as different vulnerabilities that must be dealtwith first when a disaster occurs. Communities that are disadvantaged prior to adisaster have additional needs that must be met urgently after a disaster. A case studyof George Town County, South Carolina that examined the vulnerability of people andplaces found that “[t]he degree to which populations are vulnerable to hazards is notsolely dependent on proximity to the potential source of the threat. Social factors suchas wealth and housing characteristics can contribute to greater vulnerability on thepart of some population groups” (Cutter et al., 2000, p. 714).

Tierney et al. (2001) conducted a study that consists of a systematic survey of whatis currently known and what still remains to be learned on disaster preparedness. Theprior experience engenders higher levels of preparedness and more effectiveperformance during the response period, largely because it leads to greaterawareness of the consequences of disasters and the demands that disastersgenerate. Evidently, adaptation and learning take place as a result of involvement indisaster situations, so that threats are taken more seriously and necessary tasks andactivities are carried out more effectively in subsequent crises. At the individual andhousehold levels, many studies have shown experience with actual events has agenerally positive impact on the willingness to prepare for future disasters (Mileti,1999; Auf der Heide, 1989). The literature suggests that preparedness has a directcorrelation to the level of experience, the more exposed an individual, household, andorganization has been exposed to disasters the more prepared they tend to be.

Mileti (1999) also examines the differences between ethnic minorities and howpreparedness is perceived, and the fact that they search for information in differentplaces than the general population. Racial and ethnic differences influence howminority groups obtain information regarding hazard information. There is also atendency by minority groups to view information with a degree of skepticism, as wellas involvement with dissimilar community based organizations leading to differentinformation.

A number of studies have been conducted for and by the American Red Crossconcerning awareness and preparedness for disasters. On one goal of this study is toaid Red Cross of Central Florida by providing local findings and statistics that can becompared with national research data. The following comprises the findings of aWirthlinWorldwide poll of 1,001 adult Americans over the age of 18 conducted duringJune 4-7, 2004, and a two-minute telephone survey conducted by ORC International of1,000 American over the age of 18 on October 6-9, 2005. The ORC International pollfound that 72 percent of Americans know that there is a local office, branch or chapterof the American Red Cross in their community, and that 70 percent know that the RedCross provides services for their local community. Although there is a strong level ofawareness of local chapters, Americans are less aware of the particular services theyoffer. The poll found reduced awareness of services such as: single-family fire services,blood donation, disaster preparedness training, first aid and CPR training. TheWirthlinWorldwide (2004) poll found that only 22 percent of American householdshave received specific information and/or training on emergency preparation withinthe last 12 months prior to the poll. The study also found the least prepared Americanswere: income less than 30k (44 percent), age 35 or younger (28 percent), single

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(28 percent). Those most prepared were: males over age 55 (33 percent) and marriedwith children (27 percent).

Another American Red Cross nationwide study, prepared by Peter D. Hart Researchand Public Opinion Strategies, used a telephone poll of two samples. The first samplecomprised of 1,008 American adults was polled in the days immediately before andafter Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, but before the complete destruction of NewOrleans was known (August 28-31, 2005). The second was comprised of 1,000 adultAmericans and was conducted from October 26-30, 2005. This study found that mostpeople are no better prepared than before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit. Those whoreported doing “a great deal” to barely increased only 4 percent, from 8 percent to 12percent, and those who reported doing nothing to prepare only slightly declined from42 percent to 36 percent. Only 42 percent of respondents had prepared an emergencykit. Only 36 percent have prepared a communication plan, and even less at 25 percenthad a specific meeting place in case of the inability to return to their home. Overall, thestudy found no significant differences in the level of preparedness among Caucasians,African Americans and Hispanics. The findings in these studies present a reliabletemplate to which this study can compare its findings.

A disaster may occur with little or no warning, and may escalate more rapidly thanthe ability of any single local response organization or jurisdiction can manage.Achieving and maintaining effective citizen and community preparedness reduces theimmediate demands on response organizations. This level of preparedness requirescontinual public awareness and education programs to ensure citizens will takeappropriate advance actions to reduce their vulnerability especially during the initialdays (72 hrs) after disaster impact. People need to increase awareness and be betterprepared for disasters. Although experiencing a disaster first hand helps in the level ofawareness (Mileti, 1999). While some study results indicate that there are significantdifferences in the level of awareness and preparedness and the demographics (such asage, income, marital status, ethnicity, household size, rent/own disposition, locationand length of residency), the Peter D. Hart Research and Public Opinion Strategies’(2006) study for the American Red Cross found that all ethnic groups equally lackpreparedness. It is therefore the intent of this study to closely examine Central Floridahouseholds to determine if any correlation between demographics and preparedness orawareness exists.

MethodCentral Florida households in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties are the subjectsof this study. In total, the tri-county area that represents the American Red Cross ofCentral Florida’s region has a population of just over 1.6 million (Metropolitan OrlandoEconomic Development Commission, 2006). A survey instrument was used to collectinput from Central Florida households. To ensure that the results of the survey couldbe generalized to other household preparedness issues, a stratified random samplingmethod was used. For the mail survey, this technique involved calculating the numberof surveys to be distributed to each county based on the percent of the total populationfor the Orlando Metropolitan region. One zip code within each County CommissionDistrict was then randomly selected to ensure equitable, county-wide distribution. Amailing list of 1,003 residential addresses was randomly generated based on the

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short-list of randomly selected zip codes. Several methods were used to maximize mailsurvey response rates: Since response rates improve if respondents motivated about atopic (Dillman, 2007), a letter from the American Red Cross of Central Florida and aninformational brochure were enclosed with each survey. A self-addressed, returnenvelope with pre-paid postage was enclosed with each survey. All mailing addressesused for the survey were verified in advance by the mailing list provider to minimizethe number of surveys returned as undeliverable. A follow-up mailing was sent to 500randomly selected recipients of the initial survey. The follow-up mailing included anadditional copy of the survey and a cover letter that advised recipients of an extensionof the survey deadline by two weeks to encourage response. The total survey responserate was 12.5 percent.

Findings and discussionThe objective of this study is to evaluate the level of emergency preparedness ofCentral Florida households. Emergency preparedness is generally defined by theAmerican Red Cross as accomplishing five key steps that take into account personal,household, and community needs during a disaster: developing and practicing anemergency plan, having a disaster supplies kit in the home, training, volunteering, andgiving blood (American Red Cross, 2006). To answer question that asks how preparedCentral Florida households are for an emergency, one or more questions inquired abouta respondent’s disposition with each step.

To determine if there is a possible correlation between awareness of emergencyservices and preparedness, respondents were asked questions relating to the variousagencies that provide emergency services and how respondents typically gatherinformation about a disaster. A number of demographics questions were included onthe survey to provide a measure of correlation between such characteristics as therespondent’s age, ethnicity, and length of residency and the level of preparedness.Other demographics questions posed in the survey included household size andnumber of children, and household income. To provide an indication of types ofhouseholds that are being successfully reached by the Red Cross and to possiblyidentify underserved groups, the survey provides some measure of communityawareness by asking respondents to indicate their knowledge of the types of servicesprovided by the American Red Cross of Central Florida.

In order for this study to answer the research questions, it was of paramountimportance to produce a method in which the dependant variables of emergencypreparedness and awareness of services could be quantified. To produce suchmeasures, a combination of questions from the survey was used to create indexvariables that quantify the levels of preparedness and awareness of eachrespondent. By design, the questions used in creating each index provide asobjective a measure as possible. Therefore, for inclusion in the index, the studyforgoes questions that ask respondents to agree or disagree with a statement infavor of questions that have definite objective measures. Emergency preparednessindex included the following questions that receive a “Yes” response complete themeasure: My household has an evacuation plan in case of a hurricane; Myhousehold has an evacuation plan in case of a fire; My household has a disastersupply kit; Does your home have emergency insurance?; Is anyone in your

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household currently trained in first aid and CPR?; Does anyone in your householdcurrently volunteer at a community organization?; and Does your household havean identified emergency contact?

Some objective questions have been excluded from the index because they wouldduplicate responses already included in the index and presented the potential forartificially inflating the gap between prepared and ill-prepared households. The indexvariable for disaster awareness was also created. To test the statistical reliability ofthese two index variables Cronobach’s Alpha test was performed. The index variablefor Emergence Preparedness has an Alpha value of 0.910 and the Alpha value forAwareness is 0.994. These very high Alpha values increase confidence that allappropriate questions have been included in the indexed variables.

How prepared are Central Florida households for an emergency? In answering thisquestion the study relies on frequency data. Frequency of responses of the entirepopulation of respondents will benefit the study in two ways. First, it will allow theRed Cross of Central Florida to create baseline percentages in different categories thatillustrate Central Florida household’s level of preparedness. This baseline data could beused to test the impact of future initiatives on the population as a whole. Second, it willallow for a comparison against national survey data that has already been collected bythe National Red Cross organization.

The following questions were asked on both the national and current surveys:

(1) Has anyone in your household received information/training in the past 12months? 22 percent yes (WirthinWorldwide poll), 25.9 percent yes (CentralFlorida Red Cross Chapter).

(2) Has anyone in your household been certified in First Aid/CPR? 47 percent yes(in last three years WirthinWorldwide poll), 8.2 percent yes (in last five yearslocally by the Central Florida Red Cross Chapter).

(3) Does your household have an emergency supply kit? 43 percent yes (HartResearch poll), 33 percent responded affirmatively with agree or strongly agreeanswer (Central Florida Red Cross Chapter).

(4) Does your household have extra supplies of food and water stored? In a nationalpoll by Hart Research before and after Hurricane Katrina found 24 percent yesbefore rising to 36 percent yes after the storm. Local Central Florida Red CrossChapter results found 28 percent of respondents gave an affirmativeagree/strongly agree response.

While 61 percent of the respondents to this survey either agreed or strongly agreed tothe statement “my family is adequately prepared for a disaster or emergencysituation,” responses to other questions give an indication that Central Floridahouseholds could be considered ill-prepared based on the following findings: Only halfof all respondents have a hurricane evacuation plan in place, but only one-fourth ofthose plans have been practiced by family members. While a slightly higherpercentage of respondents have a fire evacuation plan in place (60 percent); less thanone-fourth of those plans have been practiced by family members. A mere 8 percent ofall respondents have a disaster supplies kit that contains enough food, water, andmedication for a family to shelter in place for three days. In terms of the number ofhouseholds well-equipped with emergency items, the most common emergency items

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in respondent households were smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher, while leastcommon items were storm shutters, a fire sprinkler system, and a carbon monoxidedetector. Detailed charts and tables illustrating responses to emergency preparednessand community awareness questions are provided in Figure 1. While no correlationbetween preparedness and awareness was found, the results of the survey indicate thatrespondents look to the American Red Cross for information about how to prepare for anatural or man-made disaster or emergency more so than any other agency (seeFigures 2-4).

ConclusionThe overriding theme that emerged from this study is that while respondentsgenerally feel prepared for an emergency event, Central Florida households are infact ill-prepared. This finding is not surprising however; the literature found on thesubject, as well as polls commissioned by the Red Cross, all found a relative lack ofpreparation among its respondents. While Central Florida could be considered at

Figure 1.Disaster preparedness andawareness

Figure 2.Disaster programawareness

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greater risk to natural disasters than much of the rest of the country, this study’sfindings in several categories were similar to findings in several nationwidesurveys. One reason for the low level of preparedness may be the fact that thesurvey was not conducted in the most active part of the hurricane season, butrather in a period of relative quiet and stability. Valuable future study wouldinclude replicating this survey during the heart of the hurricane season to determineif there is general apathy in the community, or whether there exists seasonal trendsin preparedness. One possibility is that that Central Florida households step uppreparation measures during active hurricane months, and are not as diligent inother months. Based on this and other research, first and foremost, we needstrengthening the culture of preparedness in our communities. This means that eachindividual citizen will understand that preparedness is part of our daily mission andnot simply limited to a response to a disaster.

Figure 4.Local disaster

preparedness programand training awareness

Figure 3.Disaster training

awareness

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References

American Red Cross (2006), available at: www.redcross.org (accessed February 16, 2006).

Auf der Heide, E. (1989), Disaster Response: Principles and Preparation and Coordination,The C.V. Mosby Company, St Louis, MO.

CNN (2004), “Weather: hurricane season. Hurricane Charley blamed for 25th Florida death andhurricane season. Florida cleans up after Frances”, August 21, available at: www.cnn.com(accessed January 26, 2006).

Cutter, S.L., Mitchell, J.T. and Scott, M.S. (2000), “Revealing the vulnerability of people andplaces: a case study of Georgetown County, South Carolina”, Annals of the Association ofAmerican Geographers, Vol. 90 No. 4, pp. 713-37.

Dillman, D.A. (2007), Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, 2nd ed., Wiley,Hoboken, NJ.

Fitzpatrick, P.J. (1999), Natural Disasters: Hurricanes: A Reference Handbook, ABC-CLIO, SantaBarbara, CA.

Hsu, S.S. (2005), “Storms had little impact on preparedness”, TheWashington Post, November 15.

Kapucu, N. (2006), “Public-nonprofit partnerships for collective action in dynamic contexts”,Public Administration: An International Quarterly, Vol. 84 No. 1, pp. 205-20.

King, D. (2000), “You’re on your own: community vulnerability and the need for awareness andeducation for predictable natural disasters”, Journal of Contingencies and CrisisManagement, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 223-8.

McEntire, D.A. (2002), “Coordinating multi-organizational responses to disaster: lessons from theMarch 28, 2000, Forth Worth tornado”, Disaster Prevention andManagement, Vol. 11 No. 5,pp. 369-79.

Metropolitan Orlando Economic Development Commission (2006), “County data sheets”,available at: www.orlandoedc.com/Information%20Center/Data%20Center/Our%20Region/index.shtml (accessed March 30, 2006).

Mileti, D.S. (1999), Disasters by Design: A Reassessment of Natural Hazards in the United States,Joseph Henry Press, Washington, DC.

Peter D. Hart Research and Public Opinion Strategies (2006), “The aftershock of Katrina andRita: public not moved to prepare”, prepared for the Council for Excellence in Governmentand the American Red Cross, available at: www.citizencorps.gov/pdf/citizen_prep_review_issue_2.pdf

Pielke, R.A. Sr and Pielke, R.A. Jr (1997), Hurricanes: Their Nature and Impact on Society, Wiley,New York, NY.

Tierney, K.J., Lindell, M.K. and Perry, R.W. (2001), Facing the Unexpected: Disaster Preparednessand Response in the United States, Joseph Henry Press, Washington, DC.

Waugh, W.L. Jr (Ed.) (2006), “Shelter from the storm: repairing the national emergencymanagement system after Hurricane Katrina”, The Annals of the American Academy ofPolitical and Social Science, No. 604, special issue, March.

(The) White House (2006), The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned,available at: www.whitehouse.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned.pdf (accessedDecember 12, 2006).

WirthlinWorldwide (2004), Attitudes and Behaviors toward Disaster Preparedness, prepared forthe American Red Cross, WirthlinWorldwide, Reston, VA.

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Further reading

Florida Division of Emergency Management (2004), “The State of Florida comprehensiveemergency management plan” available at: http://floridadisaster.org/documents/CEMP/floridaCEMP.htm

Waugh, W.L. Jr (Ed.) (2000), Living with Hazards, Dealing with Disasters: An Introduction toEmergency Management, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, NY.

About the authorNaim Kapucu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration at theUniversity of Central Florida. His main research interests are homeland security and crisismanagement, decision-making in complex environment, and organizational learning and design.His work has been published in Administration & Society, the American Review of PublicAdministration (ARPA), Public Administration, International Journal of Mass Emergencies andDisasters, and Disasters: The Journal of Disaster Studies, Policy, and Management. He teachesnonprofit management, emergency management and homeland security, and analytic techniquesfor public administration courses. Naim Kapucu can be contacted at: [email protected]

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