Apatu Emma J I, Gregg Chris E, Richards Kasie, Sorensen Barbara Vogt, Wang Liang
Department of Community and Behavioral Health; East Tennessee State University; Johnson City, TN (E.J.I.A., K.R.).
Hawaii J Med Public Health. 2013 Aug;72(8):267-72.
American Samoa is still recovering from the debilitating consequences of the September 29, 2009 tsunami. Little is known about current household preparedness in American Samoa for future earthquakes and tsunamis. Thus, this study sought to enumerate the number of households with an earthquake and tsunami evacuation plan and to identify predictors of having a household evacuation plan through a post-tsunami survey conducted in July 2011. Members of 300 households were interviewed in twelve villages spread across regions of the principle island of Tutuila. Multiple logistic regression showed that being male, having lived in one's home for < 30 years, and having a friend who suffered damage to his or her home during the 2009 tsunami event increased the likelihood of having a household evacuation plan. The prevalence of tsunami evacuation planning was 35% indicating that survivors might feel that preparation is not necessary given effective adaptive responses during the 2009 event. Results suggest that emergency planners and public health officials should continue with educational outreach to families to spread awareness around the importance of developing plans for future earthquakes and tsunamis to help mitigate human and structural loss from such natural disasters. Additional research is needed to better understand the linkages between pre-event planning and effective evacuation responses as were observed in the 2009 events.
美属萨摩亚仍在从2009年9月29日海啸造成的破坏性后果中恢复。对于美属萨摩亚目前家庭针对未来地震和海啸的准备情况，人们知之甚少。因此，本研究试图通过2011年7月进行的海啸后调查，统计制定了地震和海啸疏散计划的家庭数量，并确定拥有家庭疏散计划的预测因素。在图图伊拉主岛各区域分布的12个村庄中，对300户家庭的成员进行了访谈。多元逻辑回归显示，男性、在自己家中居住时间不足30年以及有朋友在2009年海啸事件中房屋受损，会增加拥有家庭疏散计划的可能性。海啸疏散计划的普及率为35%，这表明幸存者可能认为鉴于2009年事件中的有效适应性应对措施，没有必要进行准备。结果表明，应急规划者和公共卫生官员应继续对家庭开展教育宣传，传播制定未来地震和海啸应对计划重要性的意识，以帮助减轻此类自然灾害造成的人员和建筑损失。需要开展更多研究，以更好地理解2009年事件中观察到的事件前规划与有效疏散应对之间的联系。
