Understanding the nexus between public risk perception of COVID-19 and evacuation behavior during cyclone Amphan in Bangladesh

In May 2020, when Bangladesh was struggling with community transmission of COVID-19, the country had to face the strongest tropical storm- Cyclone Amphan -which puts the evacuation process in jeopardy. Thus, it is crucial to measure the public risk perception about COVID-19 and its influence on the evacuation decision. This study explores the nexus between COVID-19 risk perception and coastal peoples’ evacuation decisions during cyclone Amphan. With an analysis of 378 sample households survey data of the Satkhira district, this study developed the COVID-19 risk perception index using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and categorized the respondents based on the score. The result shows that 1.85 %, 21.43 %, 45.77 %, 25.13 %, and 5.82 % have very low, low, moderate, high, and very high-risk perceptions, respectively. The analysis also reveals that 96.6 % of the respondents received an evacuation order during Amphan, but only 42 % complied with the order. The t-test analysis and common language effect size test of the survey data reveal that the respondents with a high perception score are 65 % less likely to evacuate than the respondents with low perception scores. This study has important implications in guiding concerned authorities to combat natural disasters during COVID-19 and other similar public health emergencies in the future.