Safety Measures after the 2011 Joplin, Missouri, Tornado

Abstract

Immediately following the May 2011 tornado, the city of Joplin, Missouri, initiated recovery efforts to rebuild the part of the community devastated by this event. In doing so, city officials introduced two new safety measures and recommended several others. The main objective of this paper is to explore the tornado survivors' compliance with the safety features recommended by the Joplin city authorities. Face‐to‐face interviews, as well as other methods, were used to survey respondents who were living within the tornado path (damage zones) at the time of the tornado. Results showed that 43 percent of all respondents implemented at least one recommended tornado measure in rebuild or repair their destroyed/damaged homes. Further, it was found that three variables considered here— rebuild or repair, damage zone category, and perceived tornado risk—were all significant contributors to a homeowner's decision to implement recommended tornado safety measures. The paper concludes with a recommendation for expanding tornado safety education among the respondents.

Key words:

• May 2011 tornado
• Joplin
• Missouri
• tornado safety measures
• recovery and reconstruction

Notes

1. No single tornado from 1980 to 2010 killed more than forty people in the United States (Simmons and Sutter 2012). Over the last thirty years, tornado fatalities in the country have averaged around fifty‐five per year; the Joplin tornado alone caused nearly three times that average (Simmons and Sutter 2011).

2. Safe rooms are made of thick concrete walls and ceilings, reinforced with steel bars. A safe room can be installed in a basement, in the center of the ground level of a home without a basement, or under a garage. Storm shelters serve the same purpose as safe rooms, but they are generally constructed underground either next to or inside a house. Unlike an indoor safe room, the storm shelter inside a home is not built with concrete walls. Simply fortifying a closet door can qualify as an indoor storm shelter. Underground storm shelters are usually safe from flying debris and high winds.

3. Considering the sample size, the variable was not categorized in more than two groups.