“More Americans expect that a major disaster will impact them or their family than in previous years, but we’ve not seen an increase in household emergency planning alongside this awareness,” said Nicolette Louissaint, Ph.D., executive director of Healthcare Ready. “For the fourth year in a row, this poll reveals a gap in preparedness at an individual level and emphasizes the need to improve readiness to ensure residents are prepared for the disasters that will inevitably come.”

The potential impact of this gap in individual preparedness is compounded by the fact that over three in ten Americans (31%) feel their state and local government are well-resourced and prepared to support them during an emergency, while nearly four in ten (38%) say the same of their local community organizations. Since this may not always be true, and all disasters are local, these findings shed light on the need to develop tailored, local preparedness efforts and consider community vulnerabilities in planning.