SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO? AN ANALYSIS OF WEATHER SOURCE INFORMATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE RESPONSE BEHAVIOR OF THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S AND GULF COAST COASTAL POPULATIONS DURING A HURRICANE EVENT

Sherlock, Kristin Eileen

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO? AN ANALYSIS OF WEATHER SOURCE INFORMATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE RESPONSE BEHAVIOR OF THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S AND GULF COAST COASTAL POPULATIONS DURING A HURRICANE EVENT

Authors

Sherlock, Kristin Eileen

Abstract

Hurricanes pose a consistent problem for people in coastal communities, especially the southeastern and Gulf Coast population of the United States. Given the potential for hurricanes to produce high winds, flooding, and tornadic activity, it is imperative for the affected communities to seek shelter and/or evacuate when advised to by local officials. However, there are still people who do not evacuate when it is most important. This poses a major problem for first responders and local rescue workers; putting their lives on the line to provide services to those that did not evacuate. A person’s decision to evacuate is influenced by many different factors (Gladwin, et al, 2002). This study focused on the influence of weather information sources on the response behavior of individuals living in coastal communities within the southeastern U.S and Gulf Coast. By analyzing data collected from over 1500 participants of an original survey, I examined the relationship between weather information sources and stated response behavior. I found that more engaged users, that is, users who reported using more than two sources, were more likely to evacuate compared to users who used two information sources or less. It was also determined that local, state and federal emergency managers were most influential on both self-reported evacuated and non-evacuated populations. This information is invaluable to the social behavioral science community, specifically within the weather enterprise and the emergency communication community.