By Bill Lucia
RouteFifty
Data released earlier this year by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that a significant percentage of households in and around 23 major U.S. cities may not be taking some basic steps to ready themselves for natural disasters and other types of widespread emergencies.
The census figures are included in the 2013 American Housing Survey and show the estimated number of households in select urban areas that have—and have not—taken precautions such as assembling an emergency evacuation kit, or stocking-up on extra food and water.
Based on the Census Bureau’s estimates, at least 40 percent of households in 18 of the metropolitan areas, including New York City, Washington, D.C. and Seattle had not prepared an evacuation kit. Metropolitan regions in Florida had the highest percentage of households with kits, according to the survey estimates. These included areas in and around Miami (71 percent), Tampa (70 percent), Jacksonville (61 percent) and Orlando (60 percent).
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