FEMA Releases 2018 Survey Results on Household Preparedness

FEMA released the results from the 2018 National Household Survey, which measures individuals' attitudes and behaviors regarding preparedness and assesses what influences them to begin preparing for a future hazard. Every year, FEMA surveys the American public to assess how the culture of personal disaster preparedness and resilience has changed over time.
 
Estimates from the 2018 survey suggest that an increasing percentage of the American public are actively preparing for disasters:
 
•  57 percent have taken three or more basic actions to prepare, eleven percentage points higher than last year's estimate.
•  94 percent have taken at least one action to prepare.
•  67 percent of adults have set aside some money for an emergency, although most have set aside less than $500.
 
When focusing on areas at higher risk of certain disasters, residents in areas at risk for hurricanes are most likely to have taken preparedness actions.
 
Approximately 5,000 adults in the U.S. were surveyed in both English and Spanish. The survey includes both a nationally representative sample and hazard-specific oversamples including tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes and urban events.

Visit the FEMA website for more information and a full list of results. For more about preparedness research, please visit www.Ready.gov.