As for events in world history , the normalcy bias explains why , when the volcano Vesuvius erupted , the residents of Pompeii watched for hours without evacuating . It explains why thousands of people refused to leave New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina approached and why at least 70 % of 9/11 survivors spoke with others before leaving . Officials at the White Star Line made insufficient preparations to evacuate passengers on the '' Titanic '' and people refused evacuation orders because they underestimated the odds of a worst-case scenario and minimized its potential impact . Similarly , experts connected with the Fukushima nuclear power plant were strongly convinced that a multiple reactor meltdown could never occur
9/11
September 11 attacks
Normalcy bias