Household preparedness for natural disasters:Impact of disaster experience and implications for future disaster risks in Japan

Onuma, Hiroki and Shin, Kong Joo and Managi, Shunsuke (2016): Household preparedness for natural disasters:Impact of disaster experience and implications for future disaster risks in Japan. Published in: International Journal of of Disaster Risk Reduction , Vol. 21, (2017): pp. 148-158.

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of disaster experience on household preparation of emergency supplies for natural disasters using originally collected Japanese data from 2013. The data cover more than 20,000 households from all parts Japan and include areas with recent disaster experiences as well as areas with low disaster risks. We generate indices for three categories of preparedness using data on household preparation of nine emergency items: Basic Preparedness (BP), Energy/Heat Preparedness (EHP), and Evacuation Preparedness (EP). We use regression analyses to measure the effect of disaster experiences on the preparation of categories of emergency supplies. The results show that experience with disaster damage increases preparedness, but the magnitude of the impact varies among the item categories. Additionally, evacuation experience has a positive impact on the preparation of items from the BP and EP categories. Moreover, the people who experienced damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) in 2011 are relatively more prepared, but evacuation experience in the GEJE does not have a significant impact on preparedness. Furthermore, we find that some regions with higher future risk of large-scale earthquakes are less prepared compared to other regions. This result suggests the importance of policy makers’ efforts to raise awareness of disaster risks and to combat insufficient preparedness to reduce future disaster damages.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Natural disaster, Household preparedness, Emergency supplies, Disaster experience
• Subjects: Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q54 - Climate ; Natural Disasters and Their Management ; Global Warming

References

Ajzen I. The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 1991;50:179–211.

Botzen WJW, Aerts JCJH, van den Bergh JCJM. Willingness of homeowners to mitigate climate risk through insurance. Ecological Economics. 2009 Mar;68:2265–2277.

Botzen WJW, Aerts JCJH, van den Bergh JCJM. Individual preferences for reducing flood risk to near zero through elevation. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change. 2013;18:229–244.

Botzen WJW, van den Bergh JCJM. Risk attitudes to low-probability climate change risks: WTP for flood insurance. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. 2012;82:151–166.

Deeming H. Increasing resilience to storm surge flooding: risks, social networks and local champions. In: Samuels P, Huntington S, Allsop W, Harrop J, editors. Flood Risk Management: Research and Practice. London: CRC Press; 2008. P. 925-931.

Donahue AK, Eckel CC, Wilson RK. Ready or Not? How Citizens and Public Officials Perceive Risk and Preparedness. American Review of Public Administration. 2014;44(4):89–111.

Faupel CE, Styles SP. Disaster education, household preparedness, and stress responses following Hurricane Hugo. Environment and Behavior. 1993;25:228–249.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). Guide for All-Hazard Emergency Operations Planning, State and Local Guide SLG-101. Washington, DC: Federal Emergency Management Agency. 1996. (https://www.fema.gov/pdf/plan/slg101.pdf)

Fishbein MF, Ajzen I. Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. 1975.

Green CH, Tunstall SM, Fordham MH. The risks from flooding: Which risks and whose perception? Disasters. 1991;15:227–236.

Grothmann T, Reusswig F. People at risk of flooding: Why some residents take precautionary action while others do not. Natural Hazard. 2006;38:101–120.

Hall TE, Slothower M. Cognitive factors affecting homeowners’ reactions to defensible space in the Oregon coast range. Society and Natural Resources. 2009;22:95–110.

Halpern-Felsher BL, Millstein SG, Ellen JM, Adler NE, Tschann JM, Biehl M. The role of behavioral experience in judging risks. Health Psychology. 2001;20(2):120–126.

Heitz C, Spaeter S, Auzet AV, Glatron S. Local stakeholders’ perception of muddy flood risk and implications for management approaches: A case study in Alsace (France). Land Use Policy. 2009;26:443–451.

Heller K, Alexander DB, Gatz M, Knight BG, Rose T. Social and personal factors as predictors of earthquake preparation: The role of support provision, network discussion, negative affect, age, and education. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 2005;35:399–422.

Ho M-C, Shaw D, Lin S, Chiu Y-C. How do disaster characteristics influence risk perception? Risk Analysis. 2008;28(3):635–643.

Hung HV, Shaw H, Kobayashi M. Flood risk management for the RUA of Hanoi: Importance of community perception of catastrophic flood risk in disaster risk planning. Disaster Prevention and Management. 2007;16:245–258.

Jackson EL. Response to earthquake hazard: The west coast of North America. Environment and Behavior. 1981;13:387–416.

Jóhannesdóttir G, Gísladóttir G. People living under threat of volcanic hazard in southern Iceland: Vulnerability and risk perception. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 2010;10:407–420.

Karanci N, Bahattin A, Gulay D. Impact of a community disaster awareness training program in Turkey: Does it influence hazard-related cognitions and preparedness behaviors? Social Behavior and Personality. 2005;33(3):243–258.

Koerth J, Vafeidis AT, Hinkel J, Sterr H. What motivates coastal households to adapt pro-actively to sea-level rise and increasing flood risk? Regional Environmental Change. 2013;13:897–909.

Kung Y-W, Chen S-H. Perception of Earthquake Risk in Taiwan: Effects of Gender and Past Earthquake Experience. Risk Analysis. 2012;32:1535–1546.

Lindell MK, Hwang SN. Households’ perceived personal risk and responses in a multihazard environment. Risk Analysis. 2008;28(2):539–556.

Lindell MK, Perry RW. Behavioral foundations of community emergency management. Washington D.C., Hemisphere Publishing Corp. 1992.

Lindel MK, Perry RW. Household adjustment to earthquake hazard: A review research. Environment and Behavior. 2000;32(4):461–501.

Lindell MK, Perry RW. The protective action decision model: Theoretical modifications and additional evidence. Risk Analysis. 2012;32(4):616–632.

Lindell MK, Prater CS. Household adoption of seismic adjustments: A comparison of research in two states. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters. 2000;18(2):317–338.

Miceli R, Sotgiu I, Settanni M. Disaster preparedness and perception of flood risk: A study in an alpine valley in Italy. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 2008;28:164–173.

Mileti DS, O’Brien PW. Warnings during disaster: Normalizing communicated risk. Social Problems. 1992;39(1):40–57.

Mileti DS, O’Brien P. Public response to aftershock warnings. US Geological Survey Professional Paper. 1993;1553-B:31–42.

Mileti DS, Darlington JD. The role of searching in shaping reactions to earthquake risk information. Social Problems. 1997;44(1):89–103.

Ming-Chou H, Shaw D, Shuyeu L, Yau-Chu C. How do disaster characteristics influence risk perception? Risk Analysis. 2008; 28(3):635–645.

Mishra S, Mazumdar S, Suar D. Place attachment and flood preparedness. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 2010;30:187–197.

Mulilis J-P, Duval TS. Negative threat appeals and earthquake preparedness: A person-relative-to-event (PrE) model of coping with threat. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 1995;25:1319-1339.

Neumayer E, Plümper T, Barthel F. The political economy of natural disaster damage. Global Environmental Change. 2014;24:8–19.

Osberghaus D. The determinants of private flood mitigation measures in Germany –Evidence from a nationwide survey. Ecological Economics. 2015;110:36–50.

Paul AJ, Hariharan G. Location-allocation planning of stockpiles for effective disaster mitigation. Annals of Operations Research. 2012;196:469–490.

Preston V, Taylor SM, Hedge DC. Homeowner adaptation to flooding: An application of the general hazards coping theory. Environment and Behavior. 1983;15:143–164.

Rogers RW. A protection motivation theory of fear appeals and attitude change. Journal of Psychology, 1975;91:93–114.

Ruin I, Gaillard JC, Lutoff C. How to get there? Assessing motorists’ flash flood risk perception on daily itineraries. Environmental Hazards. 2007;7:235–244.

Russell LA, Goltz JD, Bourque LB. Preparedness and hazard mitigation actions before and after two earthquakes. Environment and Behavior. 1995;27:744–770.

Scolobig A, De Marchi B, Borga M. The missing link between flood risk awareness and preparedness: Findings from case studies in an Alpine Region. Natural Hazards. 2012;63(2):499–520.

Siegrist M, Gutscher H. Flooding risks: A comparison of lay people’s perceptions and expert’s assessments in Switzerland. Risk Analysis. 2006;26(4):971–979.

Solberg C, Rossetto T, Joffe H. The social psychology of seismic hazard adjustment: re-evaluating the international literature. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 2010;10:1663–1677.

Spittal MJ, Mcclure J, Siegert RJ, Walkey FH. Predictors of two types of earthquake preparation. Environment and Behavior. 2008;40(6):798–817.

Spittal MJ, Walkey HF, McClure J, Siegert RJ, Ballantyne KE. The earthquake readiness scale: The development of a valid and reliable unifactorial measure. Natural Hazards. 2006;39:15–29.

Turner RH, Nigg JM, Paz D. Waiting for disaster: Earthquake watch in California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 1986.

Wachinger G, Renn O, Begg C, Kuhlicke C. The Risk Perception Paradox –Implications for Governance and Communication of Natural Hazards. Risk Analysis. 2013;33(6):1049–1065.