Public Complacency under Repeated Emergency Threats: Some Empirical Evidence

In the summer of 2004, the state of Florida was struck by fourmajor hurricanes consecutively. Using data collected from jurisdictionsexperiencing hurricanes, this study examines public complacencydefined as the tendency to ignore hurricane threat warnings.Results indicate that the public showed signs of complacencyunder repeated emergency threat warnings and there is a needto manage or reduce such tendency because a complacent publicis less prepared for emergencies. Importantly, the study findsthat the government plays a role in developing effective communicationstrategies to reduce public complacency and to enhance publicpreparedness in response to disasters.