As hurricane season heats up and winter ice storm season looms, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have come out with new data on how many people are ready.
By Rose Hoban
CDC surveys over a 5-year period looked at how many people in 14 different states self-reported being ready for an emergency.
The CDC found that men, English-speakers and the more highly educated are more likely to report increased levels of disaster preparedness.
Preparedness in most states comes in at roughly equal levels, including the finding that too few people have enough water in their houses to last them in case of an emergency.
We’re comparing North Carolina with another hurricane-prone state, Louisiana, as well as to the overall average. And in Louisiana people are, on average, at least three times more likely to have a written evacuation plan. They seem to have learned from their experiences with Katrina, Rita and most recently, Isaac.