Household hurricane evacuation during a dual-threat event: Hurricane Laura and COVID-19

Alex Greer; David Huntsman; Hao-Che Wu; Haley Murphy; Lauren Clay

doi:10.1016/j.trd.2023.103820

Household hurricane evacuation during a dual-threat event: Hurricane Laura and COVID-19

Transp Res D Transp Environ. 2023 Jun 19:103820. doi: 10.1016/j.trd.2023.103820. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Alex Greer¹, David Huntsman², Hao-Che Wu³, Haley Murphy⁴, Lauren Clay⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security University at Albany.
² Outcome Engenuity, LLC.
³ Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science University of North Texas.
⁴ Fire and Emergency Management Administration Program, Oklahoma State University.
⁵ Department of Emergency Health Services, University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Abstract

This study explores household-level evacuation decision-making in response to Hurricane Laura, in a context where hurricane risk reduction measures contradicted COVID-19 risk reduction measures. Data were collected using a mail-based survey approach from households along the coast of Texas and Louisiana to explore drivers of and barriers to evacuation, including COVID-19 measures such as negative affect, risk perceptions, protective actions, and exposure. Testing for direct and indirect effects among the drivers of and barriers to evacuation, we find that many of our COVID-19 measures did not have a direct effect on evacuation but did have indirect effects through other factors. We also found evidence of both direct and indirect relationships with regards to more conventional drivers of evacuation found in the literature. We close with a discussion of the limitations and implications of this study.

Keywords: COVID-19; Evacuation; Hurricane Laura; Path Analysis; Protective Action Decision Model.