Rebuilding Decisions in Central Oklahoma - Student Conference

A large tornado struck the central Oklahoma communities of Newcastle, Oklahoma City, and Moore on May 20th, 2013. A door to door survey was conducted of homeowners throughout the cities of Moore and Oklahoma City in the month of June 2013 to understand how residents may have incorporated mitigation techniques and emergency preparedness since the May 20th, 2013 tornado. The survey was broken into categories of: damage done to homes, factors or reasons for homeowners implementing mitigation strategies, costs of implementing mitigation applications, and strategies homeowners use to prepare for severe weather. Most homeowners were either considering or had already installed a storm shelter inside their home to help bring them a better sense of safety. Many homeowners were unaware of other mitigation techniques they could add to their homes to help protect it from wind damage and other severe weather. Some of the reasons why homeowners did not implement mitigation strategies were because the additional cost of having to pay for them and most homeowners did not have personal budget for out of pocket costs.