RAPID: Risk perceptions and decision making during Hurricanes Helene and Milton

This project will explore how residents of the U.S. Gulf Coast think about disasters and how they make decisions about evacuating prior to disasters or migrating in the aftermath of disasters. Specifically, this project focuses on Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which were large, powerful storms that spurred serious warnings ahead of the storms, and in some cases, severe damages.

The frequency and severity of hurricanes and severe storms have increased in recent decades, and sea levels are projected to rise along U.S. coastlines in the coming decades, with the highest anticipated increases in the Gulf Coast region. As such, it is important to understand how people make decisions about how to protect themselves in the face of these events.

The research team conducts telephone and web surveys with residents of Gulf Coast counties and parishes in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana who have responded previously to the Survey of Trauma, Resilience, and Opportunity among Neighborhoods in the Gulf (STRONG). STRONG is a survey of residents of the Gulf Coast to explore issues around the health, social, and economic impacts of disasters.

Using STRONG, the team explores what factors, including disaster experience, risk perceptions, and socioeconomic characteristics, are associated with evacuation behavior and migration intentions. These findings help researchers and policy makers understand protective decision making during and after disasters.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.