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African Americans' decisions not to evacuate New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina: a qualitative study

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  • Elder, K.
  • Xirasagar, S.
  • Miller, N.
  • Bowen, S.A.
  • Glover, S.
  • Piper, C.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We examined the psychosocial and personal factors that influenced African Americans' decision not to evacuate New Orleans, La, before Hurricane Katrina's landfall. METHODS: We conducted 6 focus groups with 53 African Americans from New Orleans who were evacuated to Columbia, SC, within 2 months of Hurricane Katrina. RESULTS: The major themes identified related to participants' decision to not evacuate were as follows: (1) perceived susceptability, including optimism about the outcome because of riding out past hurricanes at home and religious faith; (2) perceived severity of the hurricane because of inconsistent evacuation orders; (3) barriers because of financial constraints and neighborhood crime; and (4) perceived racism and inequities. CONCLUSIONS: Federal, state, and local government disaster preparedness plans should specify criteria for timely evacuation orders, needed resources, and their allocation (including a decentralized distribution system for cash or vouchers for gas and incidentals during evacuation) and culturally sensitive logistic planning for the evacuation of minority, low-income, and underserved communities. Perceptions of racism and inequities warrant further investigation.

Suggested Citation

  • Elder, K. & Xirasagar, S. & Miller, N. & Bowen, S.A. & Glover, S. & Piper, C., 2007. "African Americans' decisions not to evacuate New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina: a qualitative study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(S1), pages 124-129.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2006.100867_4
    DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.100867
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    Cited by:

    1. Ibraheem M. Karaye & Courtney Thompson & Maria Perez‐Patron & Nicholas Taylor & Jennifer A. Horney, 2020. "Estimating Evacuation Shelter Deficits in the Houston–Galveston Metropolitan Area," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(5), pages 1079-1091, May.
    2. Wong, Stephen D., 2020. "Compliance, Congestion, and Social Equity: Tackling Critical Evacuation Challenges through the Sharing Economy, Joint Choice Modeling, and Regret Minimization," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt9b51w7h6, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    3. An, Shi & Cui, Na & Li, Xiaopeng & Ouyang, Yanfeng, 2013. "Location planning for transit-based evacuation under the risk of service disruptions," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-16.
    4. Sloane Burke & Jeffrey W. Bethel & Amber Foreman Britt, 2012. "Assessing Disaster Preparedness among Latino Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers in Eastern North Carolina," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-19, August.
    5. Yi Ge & Guangfei Yang & Yi Chen & Wen Dou, 2019. "Examining Social Vulnerability and Inequality: A Joint Analysis through a Connectivity Lens in the Urban Agglomerations of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, February.
    6. Gabriella Rundblad & Olivia Knapton & Paul R. Hunter, 2014. "The Causes and Circumstances of Drinking Water Incidents Impact Consumer Behaviour: Comparison of a Routine versus a Natural Disaster Incident," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, November.
    7. Omolola E. Adepoju & Luz Herrera & Minji Chae & Daikwon Han, 2022. "Optimizing Disaster Preparedness Planning for Minority Older Adults: One Size Does Not Fit All," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Jennifer M. Connolly & Casey Klofstad & Joseph Uscinski, 2020. "Leaving home ain’t easy: Citizen compliance with local government hurricane evacuation orders," Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration, vol. 3(2).
    9. Rebecca R. Thompson & Dana Rose Garfin & Roxane Cohen Silver, 2017. "Evacuation from Natural Disasters: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(4), pages 812-839, April.
    10. Laura Kuhl & Paul Kirshen & Matthias Ruth & Ellen Douglas, 2014. "Evacuation as a climate adaptation strategy for environmental justice communities," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 493-504, December.
    11. Eric Joseph van Holm & Christopher K Wyczalkowski, 2019. "Gentrification in the wake of a hurricane: New Orleans after Katrina," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(13), pages 2763-2778, October.
    12. Garoon, Joshua P. & Duggan, Patrick S., 2008. "Discourses of disease, discourses of disadvantage: A critical analysis of National Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(7), pages 1133-1142, October.

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