Abstract
A survey of 613 undergraduates at a large public university in Nebraska was used to study how participants perceive tornadoes, tornado risk, and appropriate safety actions. Questions were asked to gauge participants’ overall tornado knowledge and response to tornado threat. Many students sought more information before responding to warnings and reported this additional confirmatory information would be necessary for them to respond to future warnings. Some variables were found to be positively or negatively associated with having safety plans and sheltering decisions. Those who responded to the highest proportion of warnings were from the Great Plains, perceived the local city as equally likely to be affected by a tornado compared to the surrounding region, and reported learning tornado-related information primarily from their parents. International students and those gaining most of their tornado-related knowledge from school responded to fewer warnings and took less safe actions overall. Many myths about tornado behavior and tornado safety were found to be prevalent.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Balluz L, Schieve L, Holmes T, Kiezak S, Malilay J (2000) Predictors for people’s response to a tornado warning: Arkansas, 1 March 1997. Disasters 24:71–77. doi:10.1111/1467-7717.00132
Brown S, Archer P, Kruger E, Mallonee S (2002) Tornado-related deaths and injuries in Oklahoma due to the 3 May 1999 Tornadoes. Weather Forecast 17:343–353. doi:10.1175/15200434(2002)017<0343:TRDAII>2.0.CO;2
Chaney P, Weaver G (2008) The Super Tuesday tornado disaster at Lafayette, Tennessee: preparedness, response, and previous experience. Quick Response Report #198, Natural Hazards Research Applications and Information Center, Boulder
Comstock RD, Mallonee S (2005) Comparing reactions to two severe tornadoes in one Oklahoma community. Disasters 29:277–287. doi:10.1111/j.0361-3666.2005.00291.x
Donner WR, Rodriquez H, Diaz W (2012) Tornado warnings in three southern states: a qualitative analysis of public response patterns. J Homeland Secur Emerg Manag 9(2):1547–7355 ISSN (online)
Hammer B, Schmidlin TW (2002) Responses to warnings during the 3 May 1999 Oklahoma City tornado: reasons and relative injury rates. Weather Forecast 17:577–581. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2002)017<0577:RTWDTM>2.0.CO;2
Klockow KE, Peppler RA, McPherson RA (2014) Tornado folk science in Alabama and Mississippi in the 27 April 2011 tornado outbreak. GeoJournal 79:791–804. doi:10.1007/s10708-013-9518-6
Legates DR, Biddle MD (1999) Warning response and risk behavior in the Oak Grove-Birmingham, Alabama, tornado of 08 April 1998. Quick Response Report #116, Natural Hazards Research Applications and Information Center, Boulder
Lovekamp WE, McMahon SK (2011) I have a snickers bar in the trunk of my car: student narratives of disaster risk, rear, preparedness, and reflections on Union University. Int J Mass Emerg Disasters 29(2):132–148
Mileti DS (1995) Factors related to flood warning response. US–Italy research workshop on the hydrometeorology, impacts, and management of extreme floods, Perugia, Italy
Mileti DD, Sorensen JH (1990) Communication for emergency public warnings: a social science perspective and state-of-the-art assessment. Oak Ridge National Laboratory Report ORNL-6609 for the Federal Management Agency, Oak Ridge
Mitchem JD (2003) An analysis of the September 20, 2002 Indianapolis tornado: public response to a tornado warning and damage assessment difficulties. Quick Response Report #161. Natural Hazards Research Applications and Information Center, Boulder
National Weather Service (NWS) (2008) National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Memphis Tennessee. Preliminary Storm Reports from February 5 2008
National Weather Service (NWS) (2011) Central Regions Service Assessment: Joplin, Missouri, Tornado—May 22, 2011. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Department of Commerce
National Weather Service (NWS) (2015) National Weather Service Storm Ready Universities. http://www.stormready.noaa.gov/universities.htm. Accessed July 3, 2015
Nichols (2012) How university administrators made decisions during national weather service tornado warnings in the spring of 2011. Master’s Thesis, University of Oklahoma
Paul BK, Brock VT, Csiki S, Emerson L (2003) Public response to tornado warnings: A comparative study of the May 4, 2003, tornados in Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee Quick Response Report #165. Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center, Boulder
Paul BK, Stimers M, Caldas M (2014) Predictors of compliance with tornado warnings issued in Joplin, Missouri in 2011. Disasters 39:108–124. doi:10.1111/disa.12087
Schultz DM, Gruntfest EC, Hayden MH, Benight CC, Drobot S, Barnes LR (2010) Decision making by Austin, Texas, residents in hypothetical tornado scenarios. Weather Clim Soc 2:249–254. doi:10.1175/2010WCAS1067.1
Sharpe D (2015) Your Chi square test is statistically significant: now what? Pract Assess Res Eval 20(8). http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=20&n=8
Sherman-Morris K (2009) Tornado warning dissemination and response at a university campus. Nat Hazards 52:623–638. doi:10.1007/s11069-009-9405-0
Suls J, Rose JP, Windschitl PD, Smith AR (2013) Optimism following a tornado disaster. Personal Soc Psychol Bull 39:691. doi:10.1177/0146167213477457
Tiefenbacher JP, Monfredo W, Shuey M, Cecora RJ (2001) Examining a ‘Near-Miss’ experience: awareness, behavior, and post-disaster response among residents on the periphery of a tornado-damage path. Quick Response Report # 137. Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center, Boulder
U.S. Department of Education (2015) Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. Projections of Education Statistics to 2021. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/projections2021/tables/table_20.asp. Accessed Jan 20, 2015
Weinsein ND (1980) Unrealistic optimism about future life events. J Personal Soc Psychol 39:806–820
Wilks DS (2011) Statistical methods in the atmospheric sciences. International geophysics series, vol 100. Academic Press, p 159
Acknowledgments
The lead author was supported by a teaching assistantship and the second author by an academic appointment at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln. Michael Veres is thanked for support with programming for the statistical analysis and for providing useful discussions. Andrew Gabel is acknowledged for help with survey administration and initial coding rubric refinement. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their very helpful suggestions. The students who took the survey and the professors who allowed it are also thanked.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Research involving human participants was conducted, and informed consent was gained through signature of the participants. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was gained from the institution where the survey was conducted. The informed consent form as presented to the participants is available as a PDF upon request.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Appendix: Questions and scoring/coding rubrics for each
Appendix: Questions and scoring/coding rubrics for each
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jauernic, S.T., Van Den Broeke, M.S. Perceptions of tornadoes, tornado risk, and tornado safety actions and their effects on warning response among Nebraska undergraduates. Nat Hazards 80, 329–350 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-1970-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-1970-9