As for events in world history, the normalcy bias can explain why, when the volcano Vesuvius erupted, the residents of Pompeii watched for hours without evacuating. It can explain why thousands of people refused to leave New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina approached and why at least 70% of &lt;a href="September%2011%20attacks"&gt;9/11&lt;/a&gt; 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, possibly 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.