Hurricane preparedness as anticipatory adaptation: A case study of community businesses

This paper examines adaptation to current storm surge flood risk as one indicator of anticipatory adaptation to climate change impacts. Focusing on community businesses, a web-based survey obtained information on hurricane preparedness and risk perceptions in Sarasota County, Florida. A model of current precautionary action that utilized previously identified business characteristics predictive of business preparedness and post-disaster recovery, a spatial variable indicating storm surge exposure, and items measuring the risk perception and information-seeking behavior of business owners explained a majority of the variance in current levels of preparedness. Use of online risk information sources and the geographic distribution of customers and were the strongest predictors of preparedness. Results indicate that the adaptive capacity of businesses may vary significantly with types of businesses, locations, and socio-cognitive characteristics of business owners. To encourage overall community resilience, risk communication efforts should be targeted based on specific elements that predict business preparedness.

Research highlights
► Community businesses in a coastal Florida county were surveyed about disaster preparedness.
► Anticipatory adaptation to storm surge flooding is predicted by information-seeking behavior of business owners.
► Risk perceptions, previous experience, the location of customers, and business size were significant indicators of hurricane preparedness.
► Adaptive capacity varies widely among types of businesses, locations, and characteristics of business owners.