Nearly half of Houston-area respondents living in households earning less than $25,000 a year said they would be "not at all" or "not too prepared" if a natural disaster struck, according to a Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research study.

The finding highlights a gap in disaster preparedness between lower- and higher-income households.

For families living paycheck to paycheck, the cost of emergency supplies and backup power can make preparing for hurricanes, floods and extended power outages difficult.