The Dangers of Disaster Myths:

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The Dangers of Disaster Myths

• Implications for Emergency Preparedness and
  Planning for Professionals and Consumers

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Who We Are

• Dr. Sandra Hansmann
• Asst. Professor
• Director of On-Line Course Development
• COHSHS
• Director of Research Sustainability
• (IGKNU

• Dr. Shawn P. Saladin
• Asst. Professor
• Chair, Texas RCT
• Treasurer, ARCA
• Director of the Concentration in Services to
  Individuals who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

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SPONSORS
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What is an Emergency?

• Serious situation
• Happens unexpectedly
• Demands immediate action
• A condition of urgent need for action or
  assistance a state of emergency

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What is a Disaster?

• Exceptional event
• Overwhelms local capacity
• Need for external assistance
• Significant casualties
• Webster sudden calamitous event bringing great
  damage, loss, or destruction

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Disaster Myths

• Often (largely?) based on media perpetuation
• Local media vs. national media
• Based in aspects of reality
• rare and unusual, true-ish thruthy
• Based on expectations
• But often groundless ones expectations appear
  driven by outside factors

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MYTH Panic/Hysteria/Contagion

• Fight or flight response will kick in with most
  people taking irrational flight
• People with be hysterical and/or unresponsive
• Panic and hysteria will spread rapidly

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FACTS Panic/Hysteria/Contagion

• Panic vs. logical escape
• True panic rarely occurs
• Most flight is orderly and thoughtful
• People organize themselves quickly
• People response actively and appropriately

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Consequence of Panic/Hysteria/Contagion Myth

• Information/details withheld
• Evacuations delayed
• Uncertainty leads to anxiety, even paranoia
• (NASA Report on aviation near-misses just last
  week)

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MYTH Looting

• People will break into stores to steal
• People will break into homes to steal
• People will comb through wreckage of homes
  stores to steal
• Martial law declared

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FACT Looting

• Looting is actually rare in disasters
• (but may be more common in civil unrest)
• Looting vs. Appropriating
• Curfews, yes
• Martial law, no
• Has been declared in US only once War of 1812
• Was not declared after Hurricane Katrina

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Consequence of Looting Myth

• Failure to evacuate
• Inexperienced people arm themselves
• Redirection of critical resources
• National Guard
• People affected are preventing from returning in
  time to save lives, property

Why Theres No Looting in Texas
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MYTH Price Gouging

• Prices for necessities (gas, water, plywood) will
  increase

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FACT Price Gouging

• Rare, generally
• More likely with outsiders
• on the fly services and goods
• Few people behave selfishly
• Residents tend to help one another

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Consequences of Price Gouging Myth

• People over-stock
• Buy unnecessarily
• Anxiety develops
• Law makers/public officials use time to pass
  anti-gouging ordinances

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MYTH Dead Bodies

• Spread disease
• Must be buried quickly in mass graves

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FACT Dead Bodies

• Do not typically spread disease
• (unless disease is the disaster)
• Decomposing bodies are not necessarily unsafe to
  handle

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Consequences of Dead Body Myths

• People are not properly identified
• Grief processes negatively impacted
• Mass graves may create environmental issues
  longer-term
• Must be aware of cultural/religious
  considerations

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MYTH Shelter Over-Crowding Shelter Violence

• Shelters are packed
• Conditions are inhumane and/or dangerous

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FACT Shelter Over-Crowding Shelter Violence

• Shelters are typically under-used
• Shelters usually open as needed
• Evacuees prefer to stay at hotels, or with
  relatives and friends
• Little violence has been substantiated
• TRUE Many shelters not prepared for special
  needs or people with disabilities

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Consequences of Shelter Myths

• People who need to go, avoid going
• People under prepare

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MYTH Disaster Shock

• People will behave irrationally in shock
• People will be catatonic in shock
• Will not be able to help themselves
• Will not be able to organize in any way

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FACT Disaster Shock

• Vast majority of people remain capable of
  responding
• Able to be proactive and reactive
• Shock is more likely exhaustion

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Consequences of Disaster Shock Myths

• Volunteers overwhelm areas
• Help given is not always the help most needed
• Survivors discredited for efforts

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MYTH Disasters are Random

• Myth of Random Deaths

• Myth of Random Losses

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FACT Disasters Impact in Predictable Ways

• Areas
• Beachfronts
• River ways/Lakes
• Mountainsides
• Floodplains
• Industrial areas

• People
• with few resources
• living in poverty
• in poor health
• who are risk takers

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Additional Actual Behavioral Responses

• People converge on (potential) disaster areas
• Local
• Outsiders
• Death damage estimates tend to be inaccurate
  (overstated, often vastly)
• Good reasons
• Accidental
• Sensationalism

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Broad Consequences of Disaster Myths
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Factors Influencing MythsSize of News Hole

• News Hole size of coverage
• On-air time
• Column inches
• Positively correlated with of myths

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Factors Influencing MythsType of Media

• Local vs. National
• Blog vs. More objective

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Factors Influencing MythsType of Event

• Myths higher in natural disasters
• Random nature emphasized
• Blame, if any, more response-focused
• News hole typically larger
• Tornado seemed to pick specific homes
• Myths fewer in technological disasters
• Prevention emphasized
• Affix liability
• Hews hole typically smaller
• Toxic gases followed prevailing winds

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Factors Impacting Myth Belief

• NO IMPACT
• Age, gender usually have no impact
• Related Job (EMS, Police)
• Drills

• IMPACT
• Education
• More less myth belief
• Prior actual disaster experience
• More less