Examining the Links Between Information Sufficiency, News Preferences, and Protective Behavior During Hurricane Ian

Natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes are global occurrences affecting countries, counties, and communities. These extreme weather events can cause feelings of uncertainty and produce a range of high consequence outcomes. As a result, individuals can be expected to seek out information to further understand how they will be impacted. With Hurricane Ian as the focus, this study examined the impact of source preferences on protective behaviors, while evaluating their relationship with information sufficiency. Florida residents living in counties impacted by Hurricane Ian completed an online survey in the weeks following landfall. Source preference assessed reliance on various news outlets and yielded three factors: high reliability, low reliability, and traditional media. While none predicted the likelihood of mitigation, overall reliance on all three correlated with likelihood of evacuation. Furthermore, residents who expressed information insufficiency spent more time seeking information and were more reliant on traditional media. The findings contribute to our understanding of news use and preferences before a natural disaster, along with their impact on likelihood of evacuation and mitigation.