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<br />It <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />PSOO-23 <br /> <br />Hurricane Evacuation Behavior: A Preliminary <br />Comparison of Bonnie, Dennis, and Floyd <br /> <br />Contact: John Whitehead <br />Department of Economics <br />East Carolina University <br />Greenville, NC 27858 <br />Phone: (252) 328-6821 <br />e-mail: WhiteheadJ@maiLecu.edu <br /> <br />john C. Whitehead, Bob Edwards, Marieke Van <br />WilIigen. John Maiolo, and Kenneth Wilson (East <br />Carolina University) May 200D <br /> <br />Abstract <br /> <br />Following Hurricane Bonnie we interviewed over one-thousand North Carolina coastal <br />residents. The purpose was to elicit informalion used in decisions made about Bonnie including <br />risk perceptions, whether they evacuated, where they went, how far they went, and how much <br />money they spent. We also asked respondents whether they would evacuate, where, and how far <br />they would go if a hurricane approached North Carolina in 1999. A 76% response rate was <br />achieved. Following Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd, we re-interviewed the Bonnie survey <br />respondents. The purpose was to elicit information used in decisions made about the hurricanes, <br />risk perceptions, if they evacuated, where they went, how far they went and how much money <br />they spent during Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd. To date, a 68% response rate has been achieved. <br /> <br />Several differences in behavior between the storms emerge. Fewer respondents reported <br />watching weather reports very closely during Dennis. Fifty-seven percent more respondents <br />evacuated for Floyd than for Bonnie. One hundred forty percent more respondents evacuated for <br />Floyd than for Dennis. The decision about whether to evacuate was more difficult to make <br />during Floyd relative to Bonnie and Dennis. <br /> <br />There are also differences in the household cost of evacuation. The round trip distance <br />traveled for Floyd is over twice that for Dennis and fifty percent greater than that for Bonnie. <br />Evacuees were gone from home longer in Dennis and Floyd than in Bonnie. The total evacuation <br />costs for Floyd are higher than for Bonnie and daily evacuation costs are higher for Floyd than <br />for Bonnie and Dennis. These differences are largely driven by the higher automobile costs <br />during Floyd. About 48,000, 32,000 and 76,000 households evacuated during Bonnie, Dennis <br />and Floyd. Aggregate evacuation costs are $5.96 million, $4.19 million, and $]2,79 million for <br />Bonnie, Dennis, and Floyd. <br /> <br />The major determinants of evacuation behavior are similar for Bonnie, Dennis and Floyd. <br />The evacuation decision depends on pet ownership, evacuation orders, and mobile home <br />residence. For Bonnie, perceived flood risk, gender, and education are important factors. For <br />Dennis and F]oyd, none of the other factors help explain evacuation behavior. In general, <br />households make decisions about evacuation that are consistent from one hurricane to another <br />and from one hurricane season to another. <br /> <br />We also compare hypothetical behavior from the 1999 survey with actual behavior during <br />the 1999 hurricane season. We find that hypothetical and the subsequent actual behavior are not <br />different for the evacuation and distance traveled decisions. Hypothetical and actual behavior is <br />different for the destination mode decision. These results provide optimism about the usefulness <br />of hypothetical survey questions in natural hazards research. <br />