Decisions under duress: factors influencing emergency management decision making during Superstorm Sandy

This study is an investigation of how emergency managers (EMs) make critical evacuation decisions, using Superstorm Sandy as a case study. A total of twenty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with EMs in New Jersey and New York. Including different locations with different characteristics within the Sandy impacted area adds geographical and socioeconomic contexts, which enhances the overall understanding of the decision-making process both temporally and spatially. Grounded Theory, a qualitative data analysis method, was used to determine the various factors influencing decisions. A major contribution of this research to the hazards field is the creation of a decision-making model fitted specifically to the role of EMs. This model highlights the complexity and individuality of decision making by illustrating the wide variety of factors, including those of the municipality, individual EM characteristics and positions, and Sandy’s uncertainty, that influenced EM decisions. How decisions were influenced by these factors was not uniform across the region studied. Many factors, such as prior storm experience and knowledge of the town, proved to be more influential in the decision-making process than was weather information, such as forecasts. This model further distinguished between making a decision and actually taking action, exploring the different triggers associated with turning a decision into action.