Hazard Mitigation - Citizen Survey

Citizen Preparedness Questionnaire

 

A regional planning partnership of municipalities, agencies and stakeholders has been formulated to address natural, man-made and technological hazards that may occur in Hudson County. In order to identify and plan for future hazard events, we need assistance from the residents of Hudson County. This questionnaire is designed to gauge the level of knowledge local citizens have about disaster issues and areas vulnerable in your community to any type of disaster. The information you provide will help coordinate activities to reduce the risk of injury or property damage in the future.

This survey consists of 23 questions and will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.

After completing the survey, please print it in landscape format (so the ends of the sentences don't get cut off) and mail to: Hudson County OEM, Attn: Jack Burns, Coordinator. 595 County Ave. Bldg. 11 Secaucus, NJ 07094.
 

 

GENERAL HOUSEHOLD INFORMATION

The following requested demographic information will aid the steering committee in determining the hazard mitigation needs of our community. For example, indicating whether you own a house or are a tenant will help determine the needs for both renters and homeowners. The answers provided in this section will be treated as confidential and will be used solely for the preparation of this plan and will not be provided to any other group or interest.

1. Please indicate your age range:  18 to 30 31 to 40 41to 50 51 to 60 60 or over
2. Gender:   Male   Female
3. Please indicate your highest level of education:
 
Grade school/no schooling
High School Graduate/GED
College Degree
 
Some High School
Some College/Trade School
Post Graduate degree

4.  Please indicate in what Municipality you live in Hudson County:
 
Bayonne East Newark Guttenberg
Harrison Hoboken Jersey City
Kearny North Bergen Secaucus
Union City Weehawken West New York

5. How long have you lived in Hudson County?
 
Less than 1 year
1 to 5 years
6 to 9 years
10 to 19 years
20 years or more

6. Do you own or rent your place of residence?    Own    Rent
7. What is your zip code? 
8. What is your home address?
 

HAZARD INFORMATION
 
9. Please rank how prepared you feel you and your household are for the probable impacts of natural, man-made and technological disasters. Rank on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 representing the least prepared, and 5 representing the most prepared.
1 2 3 4 5
Not Prepared             Most Prepared
10. Which of the choices below do you think has prepared you for the probable impacts from hazard events that may occur within Hudson County? (Please check all that apply)
 
Emergency preparedness information from a government source (e.g., federal, state, or local emergency management)
Locally provided news or other media information
Schools and other academic institutions
Attended meetings that have dealt with disaster preparedness
None of these has prepared me
Other

11. In the past 10 years, which of the following types of hazard events have you or someone in your household experienced within Hudson County and how concerned are you about the following hazards impacting Hudson County? (Please check all that apply and check the corresponding number for each hazard).
 
Natural
Hazard		 Have
Experienced		 Not
Concerned		 Somewhat
Concerned		 Very
Concerned		 Extremely Concerned
Drought Y N
Epidemic, Pandemic Y N
Flooding - property Y N
Flooding - basement Y N
Flooding - 1st floor Y N
Flooding - street Y N
Wildfire Y N
Severe Storms (wind, lightening, hail) Y N
Severe Winter Storm Y N
Ice Storm Y N
Excessive Temperatures Y N
Landslide Y N
Land Subsidence (settling, sink holes) Y N
Earthquake Y N
Water Supply Contamination Y N
Hazardous Material Accident - Fixed Facility Y N
Hazardous Material Accident - In Transit Y N
Utility Failure Y N
Terrorism Y N
Civil Disturbance Y N
Other Y N

12.  Information on preparation for, and the impacts of a disaster can be disseminated to the public in various ways. Of the methods described below, please identify the top three (3) ways which would be MOST EFFECTIVE in helping you make your home safer and better able to withstand the impact of hazard events?
 
Printed Media Public Forums Television Radio
Newspaper – Jersey Journal Public Meetings TV Network News Radio News
Newspaper – Hudson Reporter Workshops TV Advertisements Radio Advertisements
Newspaper – Other Schools         Cable News  
Informational Brochures    
 
Other Methods      
Outdoor Advertisements Fire Department/EMS Agency Church Public Library
Internet Academic Institutions Books  
Chamber of Commerce Public Awareness timeframe (i.e. Flood Awareness Week, Winter Storm Preparedness Month)
  Other (please specify) 

13. To the best of your knowledge, is your property located in a designated floodplain?     Yes   No   Not Sure
14. Do you have flood insurance?  Yes   No
15. Do you or did you have problems getting homeowners insurance?  Yes   No
16. If you do NOT have flood insurance, what is the primary reason?
 
I don’t need it/my property has never flooded Insurance company will not provide
Don’t need it/my house is not in the floodplain My homeowners insurance will cover me
It is too expensive It is not worth it
Not familiar with it/ don’t know about it  
   

NATURAL HAZARD MITIGATION
 

The term mitigation means to make something become less harsh or severe, to alleviate. Mitigation activities are those types of actions you can take to protect your home and property from hazard events such as floods and severe storms. Hudson County is preparing an All-Hazard Mitigation Plan to formulate and document mitigation strategies that will aid our community in protecting life and property from the impacts of future disasters. The following section will attempt to determine the level of knowledge citizens have about their options to protect their property from natural disasters.
 
17. Did you consider the impact a natural disaster could have on your home before you purchased/moved into your home?  Yes   No 
18. Was the presence of a natural hazard risk zone (i.e. flood zone, landslide area) disclosed to you by a Real Estate Agent, Seller, or landlord before you purchased/moved into to your home?  Yes   No 
19. Would the disclosure of this type of information influence your decision to purchase/move into a home?  Yes   No 
20.  How much money would you be willing to spend on your current home to retrofit it from the impacts of future possible natural disasters within your community? (Examples of retrofitting are: elevating a flood-prone home, installing storm shutters or hurricane roof clips)
 
$5,000 or above $2,500 to $4,999 $1,000 to $2,499 $500 to $999
$100 to $499 Less than $100 Nothing Don’t know

21.  Which of the following incentives would help to encourage you to spend money to retrofit your home from the possible impacts of natural disasters? (Please check all that apply)
 
Building permit fee waiver Property tax break or incentive
Insurance premium discount Mortgage discount
Low interest rate loan Grant funding that requires a “cost-share”
None  Other (please specify)

22.  If your property were located in a designated “high hazard” area, or had received repeated damages from a natural hazard event, would you consider a ”buyout”, elevation of the structure, or relocation offered by a public agency?  Yes   No 
23. Other Comments