FEMA
Releases Findings on Individual and Community Preparedness
 Findings from a newly-released survey indicate that
there are specific levers that government and private sector partners can use
to influence and increase overall individual and community preparedness.
The Federal Emergency Management
Agency’s (FEMA) Individual and Community Preparedness Division (ICPD)
released the findings from its 2015 National Household Survey of 5,000
Americans in June. The survey is designed to measure household and individual
preparedness and awareness.
Among
the most significant findings, the survey found a positive relationship
between awareness of preparedness information and the action of taking steps
to prepare for a disaster.
The
survey also notes a relationship between experience and action, finding that
individuals living in areas with a history of a specific hazard and who have
experienced the impact of that hazard are significantly more likely to report
they had taken basic steps to prepare themselves and their household.
“These
are positive results and really help validate the work that FEMA and our
partners across the country have been doing,” said ICPD Director Helen
Lowman, upon release of the survey. “Going forward, we will be able to use
this data to include all populations as we continue to build a culture of preparedness.”
When it comes to awareness of
preparedness information, 66 percent of Americans living in areas with a
history of hurricanes reported that they had read, seen, or heard information
on how to better prepare for a hurricane within the past six months, the
survey said.
Individuals
living in areas with a history of tornadoes were the next most aware of the
pertinent preparedness information for their relevant hazard with 53 percent
of respondents in those areas saying they had read, seen, or heard
information on how to prepare for a tornado in the last six months.
The survey included a series of
oversamples in U.S. counties where specific hazards, including: earthquakes,
extreme heat, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and winter storms,
present a risk to those populations.
ICPD
will be going back into the field later this summer to administer the 2016
National Household Survey.
For more information and to review a
summary of the 2015 findings, click here.
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