October 26, 2005
Wednesday

Americans have not learned the lessons of this deadly hurricane season.

Most families have not discussed what they will do if ordered to evacuate or how they'd find each other again if separated. Nearly half have failed to prepare a "disaster kit" with such basic items as a flashlight, battery-powered radio and medical supplies.

Disaster preparation survey findings Scripps Howard News Service Here are selected findings from a national survey of 1,005 adult residents of the United States conducted by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University. As you know, millions of Americans living along the Gulf of Mexico had to evacuate their homes recently because of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. How likely do you think it is that you and your family might have to evacuate your home because of a natural disaster or because of a manmade event like terrorism or war? Do you think there is a good chance you might have to Evacuate your home some day, a slight chance or no chance you'd have to evacuate. Good Chance Have to Evacuate ... 21 percent A Slight Chance Have to Evacuate .. 47 No Chance Have to Evacuate ..... 29 Don't Know/Other Response ... 3 Have you and your family discussed a disaster plan on what to do and how to locate each other if authorities order an evacuation of your home? Yes ...... 39 No ........ 60 Don't Know/Other Response ... 1 Do you have a disaster kit in your home that includes things like a working flashlight, battery powered radio, emergency medical supplies and several days worth of packaged food? Yes ....... 54 No ..... 45 Don't Know/Other Response ..... 1 Thousands of people along the Gulf Coast have learned that their insurance policy does not cover flooding. Are you sure your insurance would cover your home and personal property for most of the kinds of calamities that can occur where you live? Yes, Sure Insurance Will Cover..... 56 No, Not Sure Insurance Will Cover ... 36 Don't Have Insurance ...... 4 Don't Know/Other Response ..... 4 In the case of Hurricane Katrina, people died in Louisiana and Mississippi after refusing to follow official evacuation orders. But during Hurricane Rita, people died in vehicle accidents and got stranded along the roads as they tried to evacuate the Texas coast. How sure are you that you'd immediately evacuate your home if asked to do so by police in a local emergency? Are you very certain, somewhat certain, somewhat uncertain or very uncertain you'd immediately evacuate your home when asked to do so by police? Very Certain .......... 65 Somewhat Certain ........ 17 Somewhat Uncertain ........ 12 Very Uncertain ........ 5 Don't Know/Other Response .... 1 How would you rate the coverage of the hurricanes by the news media. Would you say it was very good, good, poor or very poor? Very Good .............. 35 Good ....................... 46 Poor ........................ 12 Very Poor ...................... 5 Don't Know/Other Response..... 2 (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com)

Only 65 percent are "very certain" that they would obey an order to evacuate their homes, according to a survey of 1,005 adult residents of the United States conducted by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University.

A spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency said the survey's findings are "frightening."

"People should be more prepared, but it's obvious from this study that they are not," FEMA's Butch Kinerney said. "No one should think they are immune from a natural or manmade disaster. We live on a restless planet, we have terrorists, and there are a wide variety of things that can bite us."

Yet the survey found more than three-quarters of Americans believe there is only "a slight chance" or "no chance" that they might have to evacuate their homes someday. People living in Southern states were twice as likely as the rest of the nation to believe they may face an evacuation sometime in the future. Residents of Midwestern states were least likely to consider the possibility.

For many years, federal authorities have urged all Americans to make disaster preparations. But only 39 percent of the people in the survey said their family has "discussed a disaster plan on what to do and how to locate each other if authorities order an evacuation of your home."

Forty-five percent said they have not assembled a kit with emergency necessities like a flashlight, battery-operated radio, medical supplies and several days' worth of packaged food.

"We've been trying to teach these things for years and years and years," said Kinerney.

Participants in the poll were asked: "How sure are you that you'd immediately evacuate your home if asked to do so by police in a local emergency." Sixty-five percent said they are "very certain," 17 percent were "somewhat certain," 17 percent were "somewhat uncertain" or "very uncertain" and 1 percent were undecided.

Survey participants were also asked how confident their homeowners insurance policies will "cover your home and personal property for most of the kinds of calamities that can occur where you live." Fifty-six percent said they are confident their property is correctly insured, 36 percent had doubts and 8 percent were undecided or said they do not currently have an insurance policy.

Kinerney said many Americans have too much faith in an insurance policy that they may not have read carefully. "A lot of people living in Mississippi are now wishing they had gotten flood insurance," he said.

Few insurance companies will issue policies that protect homes from flooding. FEMA does operate a National Flood Insurance Program, but only 4.7 million policies have been written under this government program.

"But we know there are tens of millions of homes in the United States that are susceptible to flooding," he said.

The survey was conducted by telephone from Oct. 9-23 at the Scripps Center in a project sponsored by Scripps Howard News Service and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.

The survey has a margin of error of plus 4 percentage points.

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