![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.jpg)
BACKGROUND: Many of the physical and mental health effects of disasters can be mitigated by personal disaster preparedness. Previous disaster experience has been associated with preparedness. Hurricane Sandy occurred eleven years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11), which had profound effects on the psychological status of area residents. Hurricane Sandy thus subjected thousands of people to a second life-threatening disaster in a relatively short period of time. We sought to determine the level of preparedness for a new disaster in a population with prior exposure to the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster and to study the relationship between preparedness and disaster-related and non-disaster-related characteristics.
METHODS: Participants included 4,496 adult WTC Health Registry enrollees who completed the Registry’s Wave 3 survey (2011-2012) prior to Hurricane Sandy and a Hurricane Sandy (2013) survey. Participants were considered “prepared” if they were missing no more than one of eight standard preparedness items. Associations between preparedness and demographic and medical factors, PTSD, WTC-exposure, and social support were examined using adjusted logistic regression.
RESULTS: Over one-third of participants (37.5%) were prepared for Hurricane Sandy, with 18.8% having all eight items; having an evacuation plan was the least reported item (30.2%). Enrollees with the highest level of WTC-exposure were significantly more likely to be prepared than those with low/no exposure (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 1.8; 95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 1.4-2.2). The proportion of those with 9/11-related PTSD who were prepared (39.9%) differed little from the proportion of preparedness among those without 9/11-related PTSD (37.0%). Compared to individuals who did not know whether they lived in an evacuation zone, those who knew they lived in a designated evacuation zone were almost twice as likely to be prepared (AOR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.6-2.3); those who knew they did notlive in an evacuation zone were also more likely to be prepared (AOR: 1.7; 95% CI: 1.4-2.0). Compared to individuals with no/low social support, those with very high social support were almost twice as likely to be prepared (AOR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.5-2.4).
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that WTC-exposure impacted Hurricane Sandy preparedness of participants. Future preparedness messaging should consider targeting those prior disaster experiences and social support networks. Agencies that promote disaster preparation among the general public should emphasize the need to develop an evacuation plan, assemble appropriate disaster supplies, and be aware of evacuation zones.