Perceptions of tornadoes, tornado risk, and tornado safety actions and their effects on warning response among Nebraska undergraduates

Sabrina Jauernic () and Matthew Den Broeke

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2016, vol. 80, issue 1, 329-350

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. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Keywords: Tornado; Warning; Risk perception; University; Safety actions; Undergraduate students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-015-1970-9

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