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1. Hurricane Sandy: Damages, Disruptions and Pathways to Recovery

   https://doi.org/s41885-021-00082-7  

   Meng, Sisi and (March 2021, Economics of disasters and climate change)

   Critical infrastructure and public utility systems are often severely damaged by natural disasters like hurricanes. Based on a framework of household disaster resilience, this paper focuses on the role of utility disruption on household-level recovery in the context of Hurricane Sandy. Using data collected through a two-stage household survey, it first confirms that the sample selection bias is not present, thus the responses can be estimated sequentially. Second, it quantitatively examines factors contributing to hurricane-induced property damages and household-level recovery. The finding suggests that respondents who suffered from a longer period of utility disruptions (e.g., electricity, water, gas, phone/cell phone, public transportation) are more likely to incur monetary losses and have more difficulty in recovering. Effective preparedness activities (e.g., installing window protections, having an electric generator) can have positive results in reducing adverse shocks. Respondents with past hurricane experiences and higher educational attainments are found to be more resilient compared to others. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of the findings on effective preparation and mitigation strategies for future disasters. 

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2. Integrating household survey with inoperability input–output model of critical infrastructure systems: A case study of Hurricane Sandy

   https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.14257  

   Santos, Joost; Meng, Sisi; Mozumder, Pallab (November 2023, Risk Analysis)

   Abstract Critical infrastructures are ubiquitous and their interdependencies have become more complex leading to their uncertain behaviors in the aftermath of disasters. The article develops an integrated economic input–output model that incorporates household‐level survey data from Hurricane Sandy, which made its landfall in 2012. In this survey, 427 respondents who were living in the state of New Jersey during Hurricane Sandy were used in the study. The integration of their responses allowed us to show the probability and duration of various types of critical infrastructure failures due to a catastrophic hurricane event and estimate the economic losses across different sectors. The percentage of disruption and recovery period for various infrastructure systems were extracted from the survey, which were then utilized in the economic input–output model comprising of 71 economic sectors. Sectors were then ranked according to: (i) inoperability, the percentage in which a sector is disrupted relative to its ideal level, and (ii) economic loss, the monetary worth of business interruption caused by the disaster. With the combined infrastructure disruptions in the state of New Jersey, the model estimated an economic loss of $36 billion, which is consistent with published estimates. Results from this article can provide insights for future disaster preparedness and resilience planning. 

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3. Effectiveness of Household Emergency Plans in Violent Tornadoes

   https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2020.129  

   Cong, Z.; Liang, D; Luo, J. (July 2020, Disaster medicine and public health preparedness)

   Objective: This study examined factors that were associated with the effectiveness of pre-existing household emergency plans during the 2011 EF5 Joplin and EF4 Tuscaloosa tornadoes. We focused on whether discussing with family members helped increase the plan’s effectiveness. Methods: A telephone survey based on random sampling was conducted in 2012 with 1006 respondents in both cities. Each city experienced huge losses, injuries, and casualties. The working sample included 494 respondents who had a household emergency plan in place before these tornadoes. Results: Multinomial logistic regression showed that discussing with family members increased the helpfulness of the plan in Joplin, where people had not experienced tornadoes frequently and were less prepared for tornadoes relative to residents in Tuscaloosa. Conclusions: This study provides empirical evidence on the importance of encouraging family involvement when making household emergency plans, especially in places that are less prepared for disasters than those that are better prepared. Key Words: disaster preparedness, household emergency plan, tornado, vulnerability 

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4. Households’ Intended Evacuation Transportation Behavior in Response to Earthquake and Tsunami Hazard in a Cascadia Subduction Zone City

   https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198120920873  

   Chen, Chen; Buylova, Alexandra; Chand, Cadell; Wang, Haizhong; Cramer, Lori A.; Cox, Daniel T. (July 2020, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board)

   null (Ed.)

   Earthquakes along the Cascadia subduction zone would generate a local tsunami that could arrive at coastlines within minutes. Few studies provide empirical evidence to understand the potential behaviors of local residents during this emergency. To fill this knowledge gap, this study examines residents’ perceptions and intended evacuation behaviors in response to an earthquake and tsunami, utilizing a survey sent to households in Seaside, OR. The results show that the majority of respondents can correctly identify whether their house is inside or outside a tsunami inundation zone. Older respondents are more likely to identify this correctly regardless of any previous disaster evacuation experience or community tenure. The majority of respondents (69%) say they would evacuate in the event of a tsunami. Factors influencing this choice include age, motor ability, access to transportation, and trust in infrastructure resiliency or traffic conditions. While the City of Seaside actively promotes evacuation by foot, 38% of respondents still state they would use a motor vehicle to evacuate. Females and older respondents are more likely to evacuate by foot. Respondents with both higher confidence in their knowledge of disaster evacuation and higher income are more likely to indicate less time needed to evacuate than others. Generally, respondents are more likely to lead rather than follow during an evacuation, especially respondents who report being more prepared for an evacuation and who have a higher perceived risk. This study showcases a unique effort at empirically analyzing human tsunami evacuation lead or follow choice behavior. 

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5. Examining the Links Between Information Sufficiency, News Preferences, and Protective Behavior During Hurricane Ian

   https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2023.2285968  

   Lachlan, Kenneth A.; DiCairano, James; Gilbert, Christine (November 2023, Communication Studies)

   Natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes are global occurrences affecting countries, counties, and communities. These extreme weather events can cause feelings of uncertainty and produce a range of high consequence outcomes. As a result, individuals can be expected to seek out information to further understand how they will be impacted. With Hurricane Ian as the focus, this study examined the impact of source preferences on protective behaviors, while eval- uating their relationship with information sufficiency. Florida residents living in counties impacted by Hurricane Ian completed an online survey in the weeks following landfall. Source preference assessed reliance on various news outlets and yielded three factors: high relia- bility, low reliability, and traditional media. While none predicted the likelihood of mitigation, overall reliance on all three correlated with likelihood of evacuation. Furthermore, residents who expressed infor- mation insufficiency spent more time seeking information and were more reliant on traditional media. The findings contribute to our understanding of news use and preferences before a natural disaster, along with their impact on likelihood of evacuation and mitigation. 

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