Hurricane Perceptions of Coastal Connecticut Residents

The report finds that most coastal Connecticut residents are ill-prepared for severe storms, often underestimating storm surge risks and lacking awareness of their specific evacuation zones. While many residents feel confident in their ability to stay safe, a significant portion would only evacuate if officially advised, and many cite financial or health barriers to doing so.

• A large majority of coastal Connecticut residents are unaware of their official evacuation status, with 70% being "either unsure or unaware that their home is in an evacuation zone".
• There is a significant gap in evacuation likelihood based on official guidance for Category 2 hurricanes in Zone A: 58% would evacuate if advised by an official, compared to only 21% who would do so without official notice.
• Residents generally misidentify the primary cause of death during hurricanes, with 70% attributing it to wind-related impacts and only 19% identifying storm surge.
• Coastal residents tend to underestimate the actual damage caused by storms; 52% reported that damage from past storms exceeded their expectations.
• Evacuation rates during Superstorm Sandy varied by zone, with 27% of Zone A residents evacuating compared to 11% of Zone B residents.
• Barriers to evacuation differ by zone: Zone A residents most frequently cite protecting their home or business (20%), while Zone B residents cite lack of money (24%) and poor health or disability (22%).
• Awareness of local evacuation maps is very low, with 74% of residents stating they have never seen one.
• Despite low awareness of evacuation zones, residents' estimates of the likelihood of future hurricanes hitting the coast are generally accurate compared to statistical estimates.
• While 86% of residents who experienced a storm felt at least moderately prepared, only 32% have a disaster emergency plan known to all household members.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (n.d.). Hurricane Perceptions of Coastal Connecticut Residents. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/03/Coastal_Storm_Survey_Report_2015Mar20.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Hurricane Perceptions of Coastal Connecticut Residents. n.d. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/03/Coastal_Storm_Survey_Report_2015Mar20.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Hurricane Perceptions of Coastal Connecticut Residents |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/03/Coastal_Storm_Survey_Report_2015Mar20.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunicationndhurricane, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Hurricane Perceptions of Coastal Connecticut Residents}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/03/Coastal_Storm_Survey_Report_2015Mar20.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }