Citation

O'Brien MA, Peterson C. Proc. Hum. Factors Ergon. Soc. Annu. Meet. 2017; 61(1): 26-30.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1541931213601501

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Empowering tornado-prone community residents to effectively prepare for and respond to tornado warnings is a significant challenge for public safety. Although several studies have investigated participant knowledge, response intentions and behavior to different warnings, few studies have evaluated actual responses to tornado warnings from a sufficiently large sample to reveal the greatest challenges and opportunities for increasing compliance. This study examined warning knowledge and tornado experiences of 30 college students and 30 older community residents in two tornado-prone states.

FINDINGS corroborated prior research but also highlighted the need to understand how information gathering supports individual judgments of warning relevance at specific times and locations. We also found age differences in the type of information utilized to make these judgments, highlighting the need for focused community education and communication. Analysis of tornado aftermath emotional experiences particularly supports the NWS's proposal to exploit disaster aftermath priming to increase compliance.

Language: en