When a hurricane is bearing down on a city, it’s not unusual for evacuation orders to be issued to the areas expected to be hardest hit. Despite these orders, there are often some who either cannot evacuate, or who otherwise choose to ignore the order and instead plan to shelter in place. While researching Hurricane Harvey, associate professor of civil engineering at Texas A&M Ali Mostafavi wrote an article in The Conversation looking into the actions taken by people who didn’t evacuate, and what planning would have better helped them in the aftermath of the storm.
While Mostafavi noted that most people who stayed in place knew to stock up on food, water and batteries, he also observed that many people underestimated the level of infrastructure service disruptions. Based on surveys, 53 per cent of people reported not being well prepared for service disruptions, with extended disruptions to electrical power being cited as a key concern. Sewer and water supply problems were also cited as major infrastructure issues. Research also showed minorities and low-income households reporting greater hardships during service losses, with many of these households having fewer resources available to adjust and compensate for disruptions.
