Analyzing Tornado Risk Factors and Developing a Tornado Vulnerability Index Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

Tornadoes cause untold human suffering across the United States every year. A multitude of factors affect the survival and destruction of these storms. The ability to get advanced warnings allows the public to take tornado precautions and mitigate tornado exposure. Dissemination of tornado warnings comes in many forms including TV, internet, NOAA weather radio, WEA phone alerts, private weather app alerts, and even calling friends and family members in the path of storms. Other factors such as social vulnerability, warning accuracy, believability or response to warning, and access to shelters all play a role in tornado survivability. There are a few areas in the country more susceptible to tornadoes, such as Tornado Alley in the Great Plains and Dixie Alley in the southeast. These areas of tornado occurrence will be mapped using GIS methods. Tornado vulnerability, or the susceptibility of harm by tornadoes, will be assessed using hypothesis testing to figure out if the criteria is correlated to increased tornado casualties. A final map will be created using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to highlight nationwide tornado vulnerability index (TVI) based on the weights developed during hypothesis testing. The overall goal is to see if current warning and disaster preparedness procedures put certain populations at higher chance of tornado impact and highlight these areas for special attention during tornado events.