FEMA Releases 2017 National Household Survey Results on Individual and Community Preparedness

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released the results from the 2017 National Household Survey (NHS). Every year, FEMA surveys the American public to find out how prepared they are for disasters. The NHS also looks at opinions and experiences which cause people to take steps to become more prepared.

The 2017 NHS results show that more Americans are actively preparing for disasters.

• Ninety-two percent of people who took the survey said they took at least one step listed in the survey to prepare. That’s two percent more than last year’s results.
  
• Forty-six percent took three or more actions to prepare.
  
• Seventy-nine percent said they have enough supplies to go three days without electricity or running water.
  
  
  
  The NHS shows that there are a few main things which influence how likely people are to prepare for disasters. For example, people are more likely to be prepared if they have experience with disasters. Having good information influences people to prepare. Believing that the actions will help does too.
  
  The NHS surveyed 5,042 American adults. 4,036 were asked questions about specific disasters like earthquakes, high heat, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and winter storms.
  
  For more information and the full list of results, click here.
  For questions or more information: FEMA-prepare@fema.dhs.gov.