“Hurricane amnesia” is when people forget about the potential severity of hurricanes between major storms, leading to a lack of preparedness and increased risk of damage. It can manifest in neglecting evacuation plans, ignoring weather warnings, and not stocking up on supplies. Severe hurricane seasons can temporarily alleviate the problem, but people should remain vigilant and prepared.
The term “hurricane amnesia” is used to describe a very common trend in hurricane-prone areas of the world, where people tend to forget about the potential severity of hurricanes in the intervals between major storms. Because of hurricane amnesia, communities and individuals may fail to plan as they should for major hurricanes and, as a result, are at risk of increased hurricane damage. Organizations that focus on weather safety, such as emergency services and government agencies, often find hurricane amnesia extremely frustrating.
Hurricane amnesia can manifest itself in several ways. More classically, people underestimate the dangers of hurricanes outside the hurricane season, or in regions where severe hurricanes haven’t made landfall for several years. As a result, they view awareness campaigns and safety reform proposals as scare tactics created by industries that profit from hurricane preparedness, rather than recognizing such campaigns as an important way to make their communities safer.
Someone with hurricane amnesia may ignore the dangers of living in a beach house or fail to take basic steps to make a home safer during storms, such as maintaining shutters. Hurricane amnesia can also cause people to neglect to stockpile supplies that may be needed in a prolonged storm, such as candles, batteries, matches, first aid supplies, canned and dried foods, and so on. They may also be unaware of evacuation centers in their area, or choose not to donate to or support causes that promote hurricane safety in their regions.
Hurricane amnesia can also lead people to neglect evacuation plans, either by not making those plans, or by allowing plans to lapse. This means that people may not be ready to evacuate quickly in the event of a major storm, which can cost 911 services time and potentially put people in danger when asked to evacuate. Not being conscientious about hurricane preparedness can also mean that people ignore weather warnings or don’t follow evacuation orders because they detract from the danger.
Severe hurricane seasons tend to cause hurricane amnesia to evaporate very quickly, but safety organizations are often surprised at how quickly people become complacent again, even after large storms causing severe damage. People who live in hurricane-prone areas should be aware of the problem of hurricane amnesia and are encouraged to keep up with emergency supplies, evacuation plans, and home maintenance to ensure they are safer in the event of a strong storm.
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