Interconnection is essential for establishing a resilient future and solving complex problems at the community level. This presentation will explore engagement strategies for gaining buy-in from various audiences, communicating risks, translating science, and identifying how unexpected local champions play a role in making science more accessible to those who need it most. We will examine ways that we build relationships with underserved communities who can benefit from our work, enhance our Weather Wise curriculum with their input and suggestions, and plan specific skill-building activities to increase self-efficacy. We will also emphasize our approach to digitizing our curriculum to broaden and diversify our audience while maintaining rapport and confidence in the information we share.
Weather-related disasters are a substantial concern for the United States, costing billions of dollars in property loss and a critical number of lives.[1] Tornadoes are typically associated with the “Tornado Alley” in the Central Plains, but the Southeast is progressively becoming known as the second Tornado Alley or “Dixie Alley” due to its unique tornadic vulnerabilities.[2]
Southeastern states have a high population of mobile homes, and death is 15 to 20 percent more likely in a mobile/manufactured home (MMH) than a permanent home during severe weather.[3] Wind loads that destroy MMHs are only 45 percent as strong as winds that destroy permanent homes,[4] and even the weakest tornadoes and some high-end thunderstorms can ravage MMHs.[5]
Southeastern tornadoes occur at night more than 50 percent of the time, and nighttime tornadoes are 2.5 times more likely to cause death. Also, it is virtually impossible for storm spotters to safely track nighttime tornadoes, so meteorologists mostly rely on Doppler radar data; unfortunately, by the time data is collected, lives and property are already being affected.
Identifying a true tornado season in the Southeast is difficult. Typically, roughly March through May are considered the tornado season, but in recent years, major tornadic events have occurred November through January, such as Selma, Alabama’s devastating January 2023 tornado. Consequently, these months are often referred to as the Southeast’s second tornado season.
With these circumstances in mind, the Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment-Southeast (VORTEX-SE), a research project that conjoins studies by meteorologists and social scientists to gain a better understanding of the Southeast’s tornadic vulnerabilities and to determine the best methods for communicating risks to the public, began in 2015.
In 2020, the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium (MASGC) partnered with NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) to develop the VORTEX-SE Outreach and Engagement Team, a regional extension program that conveys VORTEX-SE’s scientific data to a broader audience. Using a Theory of Change approach, we determined key stakeholders and knowledge brokers that help identify vulnerable and under-resourced communities throughout the Southeast. Once our audience had been identified, we began experimenting with various outreach strategies and engagement activities that would be well received and also help us learn more about the public’s needs.
During a pilot study in 2021, we developed our Weather Wise curriculum that teaches fundamental skills for planning for, responding to, and recuperating from severe weather events. The first full-day training based on this curriculum was hosted at a local library in Ocean Springs, MS and covered many topics such as basic first aid, chainsaw safety, preparing a “go kit”, safe sheltering, and receiving emergency alerts. This training has since been modified to accommodate various audiences and timeframes at several other libraries and community centers, such as a two-hour session delivered to senior citizens at a public library in Jackson, MS, and a one-hour session for a children’s group at a Utica, MS library. We believe libraries are ideal venues because they are trusted environments for education and collaboration and typically are easily accessible to the communities they serve.
We offer online workshops to those who can not attend in-person events that cover several weather-related topics and are typically aimed at specific audiences, such as emergency managers in the region. We also partner with FEMA for webinars based on the social science behind how people respond to severe weather and how to better engage specific audiences such as MMH owners, deaf and hard of hearing audiences, and those with language barriers (Vietnamese populations, Hispanic populations).
One of the Theory of Change Model’s most valuable aspects is empowering local communities by allowing their input and experiences to influence the curriculum, extension publications, and research initiatives. Following the devastating March 2023 Rolling Fork, Mississippi tornado, meteorologists, social scientists, and outreach specialists conducted on-the-ground surveys in the area, interviewing the people in the community. These interviews allowed VORTEX-SE to determine gaps in understanding, what actions were taken during the emergency, and how vital information was communicated. The surveys’ data were documented in an extension publication that is distributed at Weather Wise events in hopes that understanding Rolling Fork’s experience will promote preparedness and resilience amongst other communities.
By 2025, we aim to develop a Train-the-Trainer curriculum that will be shared with librarians in the region so they can incorporate this training into their programming and lead their own sessions. Modules of lesson plans, resources, and activities will be compiled in an online hub, allowing librarians to customize lessons according to their unique needs and audiences.
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