Explaining Subjective Risks of Hurricanes and the Role of Risks in Intended Moving and Location Choice Models

Abstract

Using stated choice survey data we report on subjects’ perceptions of the risks of hurricanes and intended relocation decisions when faced with such risks. All of the subjects were displaced by either Hurricane Katrina or Rita, in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas in 2005. Results here suggest that subjective perceptions of risk are quite high as compared to scientific estimates of risk, and relocation decisions revealed from a discrete choice experiment are significantly determined by levels of hurricane strike risks.