An October 13th blog post about the 2015 Chapman Survey of American Fears titled Americans Need A Disaster Reality Check began by stating:
“In our survey we asked a random sample of Americans about fears of natural and man-made disasters. We then asked whether they had taken recommended preparedness steps such as assembling an emergency kit.
More than half of all Americans [55 percent] fear they will experience a natural or manmade disaster. And some 28 percent fear such a disaster will damage their property.
A whopping 86 percent believe an emergency supply kit, such as a 72-hour kit recommended by FEMA or the Red Cross would improve their chances of surviving a disaster. Nevertheless, 72 percent have made no effort to put together such a kit. WHY?”
I looked in their Complete Survey Results and found the question about experiencing a disaster was at the top of page 86. Answers were four levels of disagreement or agreement:
1 = Strongly Disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Agree
4 = Strongly Agree
and the question was:
“Please indicate your level of agreement with the following:
I will experience a significant natural or manmade disaster in my lifetime.”
8.8% Strongly Agreed, and 46.5% Agreed, for a total of 55.3%, as was quoted. (35.9% Disagreed, and 8.8% Strongly Disagreed).
But, there was another question at the bottom of page 85, which instead asked:
“Please indicate your level of agreement with the following:
I will experience a significant natural or manmade disaster in the near future.”
For that question only 4.4% Strongly Agreed, and 21.5% Agreed, for a total of just 26%. A majority, 59.1%, Disagreed and 14.9% Strongly Disagreed.
As shown above, there is a huge difference between in my lifetime (which could cover many decades) and in the near future. People don’t bother to prepare since they think it can’t happen here or now.
A WPA poster for The Big Blow came from the Library of Congress.
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