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Journal Article

Citation

Elder K, Xirasagar S, Miller N, Bowen SA, Glover S, Piper C. Am. J. Public Health 2007; 97(1): S124-S129.

Affiliation

University of South Carolina.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2006.100867

PMID

17413086

PMCID

PMC1854973

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.


Language: en

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