Older Adults’ concerns regarding Hurricane-Induced evacuations during COVID-19: Questionnaire findings

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2022.100676Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Questionnaire findings indicate older adults’ major concerns related to evacuating from areas that were affected by hurricanes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Older adults who are single or living alone, as well as lower-income older adults, need more help in case they decided to evacuate.

  • There was a greater willingness among males to evacuate compared to females.

  • Maintaining social distance is among the major concerns for older adults at the time of hurricane-induced evacuation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected our day-to-day life in the last few years. This problem becomes even more challenging when older adults are considered due to their less powerful immune system and vulnerability to infectious diseases, especially in Florida where 4.5 million people aged 65 and over reside. With its long coastline, large and rapidly growing of older adult population, and geographic diversity, Florida is also uniquely vulnerable to hurricanes, which significantly increases the associated risks of COVID-19 even further. This study investigates older adults’ evacuation-related concerns during COVID-19 using statistical analysis of a questionnaire conducted among 389 older adult Florida residents. The questionnaire includes questions concerning demographic information and older adults’ attitudes toward hurricane-induced evacuations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ordered Probit regression models were developed to investigate the impacts of demographic parameters on older adults’ tendencies toward evacuating as well as their preferences to stay at home or shelter during the pandemic. The model results reveal that male participants felt safer to evacuate compared to females. Also, any decrease in the level of income was associated with an increase in the need for help for evacuation by 18%. Findings indicated that the participants who found the evacuation safe normally also had a positive attitude toward staying in their vehicle, hotel, or even shelters if maintaining social distance was possible. Emergency management policies can utilize these findings to enhance hurricane preparations for dealing with the additional health risks posed by the pandemic for older adults, a situation that could be exacerbated by the upcoming hurricane season in Florida.

Keywords

Pandemic Impact Assessment
Ordered Probit Regression Models
Socio-Demographic parameters
Aging Population
Questionnaires

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