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Complacency a real danger in hurricane season

 
Unprepared residents were rescued from rooftops like these in the 8th Ward of Orleans Parish after storm surge from Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed levees.
Unprepared residents were rescued from rooftops like these in the 8th Ward of Orleans Parish after storm surge from Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed levees.
Published May 13, 2015

What Hurricane Katrina left behind one decade ago was a swath of destruction so dire it plagued the Gulf Coast for years.

More than 1,800 people died. Compounding the immense suffering were major governmental failures to plan and react to the storm. Yet many were killed by their own complacency. They played "hurricane roulette," a report found, neglecting to take seriously the storm that became one of the nation's deadliest.

Emergency management officials in Florida fear a similar attitude among Sunshine State residents, both old and new. Nearly 10 years have passed since the state last saw a hurricane and the Tampa Bay region has gone nearly 94 years without a direct hit.

"The longer that you go without having a serious threat, the harder it is to get people to take preparation seriously," said Mary Burrell, Pinellas County spokeswoman. "People let their guard down. People think that it's not going to happen."

Florida is no stranger to catastrophe, but many of its 2 million new residents over the last decade have only seen storms on TV. Officials worry they may not grasp the reality of the potential destruction, such as 2004's quadruple whammy of hurricanes that killed about 80 Floridians.

And longtime residents may have been lulled into a false sense of security during the storm drought.

"It's easy to say, 'Well, you know, it happens, but it doesn't happen here,' or, 'Well, it happens, but it hasn't happened here for so long it won't happen again,'" said Annette Doying, Pasco County's emergency management director.

That lack of understanding translates to ill-preparedness. Take two people named Tom, Doying said. One lives in an evacuation zone. The other does not.

"If neither Tom knows what they need to know about hurricanes, then probably both Toms are going to react wrong," she said. "I don't want the Tom that lives in a very safe house to get on the road with no clear plan in the middle of a big evacuation, and I certainly don't want the Tom who lives on the coast to sit there thinking it's okay to have a hurricane party and invite people over to brave it out."

The best way to combat apathy, Doying said, is with specifics.

Residents need to know: Am I vulnerable? What about storm surge? What's my evacuation route? Is my home secure? What about my pets? Insurance? Papers? Medicines?

Plans do not have to be complex, Doying said. But residents need a nuanced understanding of their vulnerability.

In a study gauging people's inclination to evacuate, the overwhelming reason for choosing not to evacuate was a family pet, said Lorilee Medders, director of the Florida Catastrophic Storm Risk Management Center.

Complacency worsens as people equate glancing blows from weak storms with hurricane experience.

"Unless you lived here in 1921, you have never experienced even a Category 1 hurricane in Pinellas County," said Sally Bishop, the county's emergency management director.

Peter Muller, a senior professor of geography at the University of Miami, compared hurricane apathy to pre-flight safety presentations, which are generally tuned out. But when a captain announces a rough landing, he said, "I bet everybody in that cabin will be all ears."

"Sadly there's only one way to overcome (apathy)," he said. "There's nothing like having a disaster."

Anything can happen, he said. A drought of 50 years can be followed by a walloping of serious storms. Yet some people will always take their chances.

"Humans have always been like this, gambling with the environment," he said. "This is part of a much different story: humans taking nature for granted."

Katrina was an example of that, said Lisa Garcia, national coordinator for Get Ready America, the National Hurricane Survival Initiative.

"We were able to watch in real time what happens when you're not properly prepared," she said.

Many people remained at home despite warnings, a Senate report found. Some did not have the means to evacuate or were taken by surprise by the storm's intensity. Others had "hurricane fatigue." Stubborn, older residents felt they had dealt with past hurricanes without issue.

"Many of these people paid for their poor choices with their lives," the report said.

Floridians should heed warnings and evacuate if they live in a flood zone. But they should make plans to stay with someone not in a flood zone, or at a hotel, and leave early to avoid gridlock. Shelters should be a last resort, Doying said.

"People are almost literally terrorized because they hunker down and the storm just blows around them for hours … They come out of that almost emotionally blown away," she said. "I'd rather get to safety and come out and laugh at the weatherman than not heed his warning."

Contact Claire McNeill at cmcneill@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8321.