ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the problem of designing effective evacuation policies to minimize the risk of human casualties in hurricanes and the fit between current evacuation policies, changing populations, and the social psychology of evacuation. Policy recommendations are drawn from the comparison of expected individual and collective evacuation behaviors and the expectations of emergency management decision makers. Emotion, social connections, and a variety of other psychological variables affect crisis decision making and should be both anticipated and addressed in the design of evacuation policies. Evacuation is complex and involves many types and levels of interaction among individuals and collectives within the threatened area and among civilians and emergency managers. Gender differences appear in the literature with women being more likely to evacuate and have evacuation intentions. Family variables have been important components of evacuation, most likely because families tended to evacuate as a unit. Many of the evacuation models of decision making have focused on risk perception as a key component.
