Survey: Many won't flee major hurricane. Coastal residents unprepared for major storm.

[Ian David]

BOSTON | July 24, 2007

Nearly one-third of people living in high-risk hurricane areas would refuse government orders to evacuate in a major hurricane - up from 23 percent one year ago, according to a Harvard survey released Tuesday. Only 14 percent of residents in New Orleans, however, would refuse such an order, it said.

"Public officials need to be concerned that the further we get from the severe hurricanes of 2005, the less willing people are to evacuate," said Robert J. Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health which conducted the survey. "Officials need to remind people that many homes are vulnerable to major storms. They also need to ensure safe evacuation routes are available and the public is aware of them."

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Among those who said they would refuse to evacuate, 75 percent said they believed their homes were well-built and they would be safe there. More than half - 56 percent - cited crowded roads as a reason for not leaving, while 36 percent said they felt evacuating would be dangerous. One-third of respondents were worried about their possession being stolen or damaged; 27 percent said they did not want to leave their pets.

The survey also reported that while low-income and minority residents were more willing to heed evacuation orders in the event of a major hurricane, they were also more likely to need help in evacuating.

More:
http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=3302

[BOSSHOG]

1. Katrina made it perfectly clear

Residents of the lower ninth ward did not have to flee the hurricane but they had every reason to flee the federal government created levees at Lake Pontchartrain.

We live about 50 miles northeast of New Orleans (as the crow flies) and I can now say my home survived katrina, why should we leave in the future? Stupid question? Maybe.