People and Tornadoes

This presentation will provide results from a study conducted as part of the NSF funded CASA project. Our analysis builds on existing social scientific theories of response to sever weather. Specifically, we explore public response to severe weather warnings and tornadoes. Drawing on responses from over 1000 randomly selected households in counties affected by seventeen severe weather events and tornado during the 2008, 2009, 2010 seasons, we explore a number of concepts of interest to social scientists and meteorologists concerned with behavioral responses to severe weather. Among other issues we explore the relationships between false alarm, lead time, geographic proximity, and race/ethnicity, gender, etc. and protective actions.