Disaster Vulnerability and Evacuation Readiness: Coastal Mobile Home Residents in Florida
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2010
Keywords
Evacuation, Disaster vulnerability, Perception, Mobile homes, Florida
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-009-9358-3
Abstract
This article examines disaster preparedness in a highly vulnerable population, mobile home park residents in hurricane-prone areas. The vulnerabilities of this population mandate evacuation as the only viable disaster response strategy, but this does not always happen. In order to explore evacuation decision making, interviews were conducted with 75 mobile home park residents in Ruskin, Florida. Descriptive results build on a conceptualization of physical, structural, socio-economic, and “residual” disaster vulnerability; the latter is defined as a combination of experiences, perceptions, and preparations that inhibit the willingness and abilities of respondents to protect themselves. While residents generally prepared for disasters, evacuation plans were troubling. Barriers to evacuation based on measured vulnerabilities remained unclear, and analysis of responses failed to explain respondents’ varying evacuation preparations. Future research needs to address differential evacuation behaviors among mobile home park residents. We further conclude that disaster preparation and education need to address the special risks of this and other vulnerable populations better.
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Natural Hazards, v. 52, issue 1, p. 79-95
Scholar Commons Citation
Kusenbach, Margarethe; Simms, Jason L.; and Tobin, Graham A., "Disaster Vulnerability and Evacuation Readiness: Coastal Mobile Home Residents in Florida" (2010). School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications. 79.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/79
