Far from home: Infrastructure, access to essential services, and risk perceptions about hazard weather events

This study explores the role of access to essential facilities and emergency services during hazard weather events in shaping individuals' risk perceptions. We develop a framework in which resi-dents' views of required actions facing extreme weather are influenced by their level of access to essential facilities to obtain medical and emergency services. The effect of access is comple-mented by perceptions about the status of local infrastructure conditions as enabling access. Us -ing a sample of Texas residents collected during April 2021, we demonstrate the role of restricted access and views of local infrastructure conditions as important predictors of increased concerns during natural disasters. The results demonstrate the effects of factors such as access and status of local infrastructure on the risk assessments of individuals in vulnerable communities who face in-creased risks from extreme weather. Accordingly, the findings advance our understanding of the unexplored relationship between access of essential facilities and risk perceptions, and could in-form disaster managers and public officials regarding the importance of evaluating access as an element of public risk perceptions facing extreme weather events.

Automated summary

This study explores the impact of access to essential facilities and emergency services on individuals' risk perceptions during hazard weather events. The findings demonstrate that restricted access and views of local infrastructure conditions are important predictors of increased concerns during natural disasters.