Literature Review

Within recent years, a lack of information regarding the attitudes of Barbadians towards disaster

preparedness has prompted an investigation into the issue through online articles and research

journals.

Research on hurricane preparedness is still an area of study that is new in the Caribbean but there

is external literature that sheds light on some factors relating to the issue. According to Gerdan,

S. (2014). “Determination of disaster awareness, attitude levels and individual priorities at

Kocaeli University”, Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 55, 159-176. from

http://dx.doi.org/ 4689/ejer.2014.55.10, Disaster Awareness develops in a positive way after a

disaster has occurred. It also stated that education and public preparations of communities living

in disaster prone areas are higher than in other regions. Furthermore factors such as gender, age,

previous disaster experience, ethnicity and social class significantly affect the public’s response

in disaster preparedness. Additionally, marital status, number of children, home ownership status

and level of education also play a substantial role in person’s attitude to disaster awareness. This

research paper also references a study carried out by Karanci (2005) which found that short

disaster training programs increase an individual’s motivation but does not effect a permanent

behaviour within the individual. Moreover the paper goes on to state that to develop social

awareness, disaster training must be included at all levels of education. Subsequently it would be

of significant importance to determine the levels of awareness, attitudes to Hurricane

Preparedness and priority levels of individuals in the chosen sample so consideration of these

factors will be taken in the design of disaster preparedness training programmes and policies.

According to Marlon, J., Rosenthal, S., Feinberg, G., Pal, S. and Leiserowitz, A. (2015).

“Hurricane Perceptions of Coastal Connecticut Residents”: October, 2014. Yale University.

New Haven, CT: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication states that in the event of an

oncoming hurricane, only 58% of persons would leave their homes if advised by an official.

Furthermore, in the study it directly states that,

“Zone A residents (homeowners closer to the shoreline), on average, tend to be older, Caucasian,

have higher household incomes, higher educational attainment levels, have made more storm

preparations than Zone B residents (homeowners who live inland)”. In fact this trend was listed

as a ‘key finding’ within this research paper. This trend further corresponds with other research

literature that education and socioeconomic status does affect the homeowners’ disaster

preparedness.

Additionally, within the study, the public’s general attitude and risk perception seem to be a

significant determinant of how they respond to a hurricane. It was reported in the Yale study that

80% of the Connecticut coastal zone residents expressed moderate concern about an impending

hurricane with only 48% selecting a value above the mid-point(i.e., a value of 5 or higher on a 7-

point scale).
A survey entitled “Project on the Public and Biological Security”, published by the Harvard

School of Public Health from “https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/hurricane-

survey-katrina-fresh-water-medical-care/” indicates that 34% of 5,055 candidates from the states

of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas

reported that they are very prepared if a major hurricane were to strike their communities.

Moreover 42% of the respondents to this survey also voiced their worry that they would not have

access to fresh water; 41% were very worried that they would not receive medical care. This data

is quite similar to that obtained in the Yale University study where a significant portion of

participants did not feel prepared for hurricanes. These studies were carried out in the United

States and their citizens’ attitudes may be different from those in the Caribbean. Hence as the

Caribbean region is prone to hurricanes and is usually the first point of impact, it is worthy to

access the attitudes of homeowners in the Barbadian context/setting.

According to Muttarak, R., and W. Pothisiri. (2013). “The role of education on disaster

preparedness: case study of 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes on Thailand’s Andaman

Coast. Ecology and Society” from

http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06101-180451, disaster preparedness behaviour differs across

social groups. The paper also deemed it vital to identify subpopulation differences in order to

design appropriate preparedness and emergency initiatives to improve awareness and disaster

preparedness amongst the different subgroups. This brings up similar trends when compared to

Muttarak and Pothisiri, socioeconomic traits such as gender, age, race, and ethnicity, income,

education, home ownership and the presence of children are commonly correlated to displayed

preparedness behaviours. This research paper also references, Sattler (2000), Horney (2008);
Tekeli-Yesil (2010), found higher perceived risk and exposure to information to be associated

with greater preparedness. It is important to consider that these studies were predominantly

carried out in the US and mostly focused on disaster preparedness for hurricanes. Consequently

there are limitations and inconsistencies in the data which may lead to unreliable or unrelated

associations between characteristics of disaster preparedness in different contexts. However this

has stimulated the need for such research to be carried out within the Caribbean region.