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Hurricane Risk Perception, Preparedness, And The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Earth and Mineral Sciences HURRICANE RISK PERCEPTION, PREPAREDNESS, AND EVACUATION INTENTION AMONG OLDER ADULTS A Dissertation in Geography by Chongming Wang © 2016 Chongming Wang Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctoral of Philosophy August 2016 ! The dissertation of Chongming Wang was reviewed and approved* by the following: Brent Yarnal Professor of Geography Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Alexander Klippel Professor of Geography John Kelmelis Professor of of International Affairs Steven Zarit Professor of Human Development and Family Studies Cynthia Brewer Professor of Geography Head of the Department of Geography *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ! ABSTRACT Vulnerability of older adults in all stages of a disaster is well recognized by both scholars and practitioners. However, most relevant empirical research to date has focused on disaster recovery and reconstruction, leaving unanswered the “how” and “why” questions surrounding disaster preparedness and response among older people. The older people’s perceptions of natural hazard risks have been even less explored. To address these research gaps, this study uses a case study of older residents of Sarasota County, Florida and applies a qualitative method to understand the perception, preparedness, and evacuation intention of older people at risk from hurricane hazards. The individual in-depth interviews generate several findings. First, while older residents’ knowledge of hurricane threats varied from simple to sophisticated, their perceptions of hurricane risks were predominantly low due to a local myth and hurricane quiescence in recent memory. Second, most older residents took generic actions by preparing extra water, food, and medications, but lacked efforts in more hurricane-specific preparedness due to complacency and lack of awareness, financial capital, and social capital. Third, although a minority of older residents would definitely either shelter in place or evacuate, most demonstrated flexibility with hurricane evacuation and would make spontaneous and situational choices for staying versus leaving in the event of a hurricane. In sum, this dissertation utilizes a qualitative inquiry to weave richer personal and contextual details that are less visible through a quantitative lens to make sense of a population-specific and site-specific vulnerability to hurricane hazards. As the older populations continue to grow in size and diversify in characteristics, my research aims to advance understanding of the internal commonality and variability among older adults and help inform need-based rather than strictly age-contingent policies for hazard vulnerability reduction and resilience building. ! iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................1 1.1 Background and Rationale ........................................................................................1 1.2 Research Goals, Objectives, and Overall Contribution ............................................5 1.3 Organization of the Dissertation ...............................................................................7 1.4 Summary ...................................................................................................................7 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ........................................9 2.1 Overview ...................................................................................................................9 2.2 Study Area ...............................................................................................................10 2.3 Methods and Practices ............................................................................................15 2.4 Recapitulation .........................................................................................................23 CHAPTER 3: HURRICANE RISKS AND BIASED PERCEPTIONS: THE SELF- DISTANCING FROM VULNERABILITY AMONG OLDER ADULTS ......................24 3.1 Overview .................................................................................................................24 3.2 Hurricane Hazards through the Eyes of Older People ............................................28 3.3 Hurricane Risk Perceptions among Older People ...................................................32 3.4 Discussion and Conclusions ....................................................................................50 CHAPTER 4: BRACING FOR HURRICANES: THE EXTENT AND LEVEL OF PREPAREDNESS AMONG OLDER ADULTS ..............................................................60 4.1 Overview .................................................................................................................60 4.2 Hurricane Preparation Practices among Older People ............................................64 4.3 Self-reported Hurricane Readiness among Older People ........................................76 ! v 4.4 Hurricane Experience and Preparedness among Older People ...............................83 4.5 Discussion and Conclusions ....................................................................................95 CHAPTER 5: HURRICANE EVACUATION INTENTION AND DECISION-MAKING: THE DYNAMIC SPECTRUM OF RESPONSES WHEN OLDER ADULTS ARE THREATENED ............................................................................................................................................99 5.1 Overview .................................................................................................................99 5.2 Evacuation Intention and Decision-making among Older People ........................103 5.3 The Logistics of Evacuation among Older People ................................................117 5.4 Discussion and Conclusions ..................................................................................127 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................135 6.1 Overview ...............................................................................................................135 6.2 Recapitulation of Major Findings .........................................................................135 6.3 Emergent Cross-cutting Themes ...........................................................................139 6.4 Implications for Policy and Practice .....................................................................141 6.5 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................144 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................147 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Trends in population aging in the United States ...............................................2 Figure 2.1 Sarasota County, Florida ..................................................................................11 Figure 2.2 Recruiting material posted in the Senior Hub prior to the interview ...............17 Figure 3.1 Refined graphical representation of word frequency regarding things coming to mind when older residents of Sarasota County thought of hurricanes ........................................31 Figure 3.2 Perceived likelihood of a hurricane hitting Sarasota County ...........................35 Figure 3.3 Temporal progression of perceived likelihood of a hurricane hitting Sarasota County ............................................................................................................................................37 Figure 3.4 Perceived likelihood of oneself being affected by a hypothetical hurricane blowing into Sarasota County ..........................................................................................................41 Figure 3.5 Perceived severity of oneself being affected by a hypothetical hurricane blowing into Sarasota County .................................................................................................................44 Figure 3.6 Perceived likelihood of a strong storm with the destructive power of Hurricanes Katrina or Sandy hitting Sarasota County .........................................................................48 Figure 3.7 Perceived severity of oneself being affected from a strong storm with the destructive power of Hurricanes Katrina or Sandy hitting Sarasota County ........................................49 Figure 4.1 Preparedness practices of older residents of Sarasota County .........................66 Figure 4.2 Responses to gaps in current hurricane preparedness by older residents of Sarasota County ................................................................................................................................73 Figure 4.3 Composition of gaps in current hurricane preparedness identified by older residents of Sarasota County .................................................................................................................75 ! vii Figure 4.4 Proximity to centers of
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