Hurricane Evacuation Decision Making in Pinellas County: A Study Focusing on Hurricane Ian

Emergency managers and communications experts work to improve compliance with evacuation orders among residents in hurricane evacuation zones. Hurricane Ian provides an opportunity to learn from residents in Pinellas County about their level of preparedness, perception of risk, and their household evacuation decision. Researchers conducted a digital survey of 1,117 respondents from Pinellas County (as of January 15, 2023) to understand hurricane evacuation decision-making and perceptions during Hurricane Ian. In addition, this report summarizes the respondents’ general evacuation preparedness and their perception of risk that led to them to deciding to go to a shelter or hotel, shelter-in-place, or evacuate elsewhere in response to the threat of Hurricane Ian. This survey was provided as an online survey through Qualtrics, and responses were gathered from October 2022 to January 2023. The survey was available in both English and Spanish. This report acts as a summary of preliminary findings; data collection is ongoing to ensure those in the recovery phase have time to participate in the study.