The hidden role of the built environment in campus disaster preparedness

Many have spent much of their career studying disasters—how people perceive risk, how institutions communicate, and why preparedness so often falls short of good intentions. But this study forced me to confront something I had not fully reckoned with before: hurricane preparedness is not only a matter of awareness or motivation. It is deeply shaped by the built environment—by where people live, where they work, and how campuses are physically designed.