Improving perception of and response to natural hazards: The need for local education

Vitek, John D.; Berta, Susan M.

doi:10.1080/00221348208980740

Cited by 35 publications

(23 citation statements)

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“…One would expect that when personally experienced, a natural hazard event would be more meaningful and lead to heightened perception of risk (Burton and Kates, 1964;Vitek and Berta, 1982). For example, Anderson (1969) found that individuals who had recently experienced a natural hazard were more sensitive to warnings and more likely to respond.…”

Section: Explaining Hurricane Risk Perceptionsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Hurricane risk perceptions among Florida's single family homeowners

Peacock

Brody

Highfield

2005

Landscape and Urban Planning

346

280

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Section: Explaining Hurricane Risk Perceptionsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Hurricane risk perceptions among Florida's single family homeowners

Peacock

Brody

Highfield

2005

Landscape and Urban Planning

346

280

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Perceived risk to a disaster can best be obtained in two ways: (1) education, and (2) personal experience with the disaster (Vitek and Berta 1982). Often, due to a lack of education, people are simply unaware that they are at risk for a natural disaster and do not realize they are in danger (O'Riordan 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, when disaster does strike, most people do not take action and are surprised or caught off guard. Even worse, those who are uneducated about the disaster often conclude that it could not happen again, thus putting themselves at unnecessary risk for a future event (Vitek and Berta 1982). Janis (1962) notes that people are more likely to respond to a warning if someone they know has been previously affected by the disaster.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The social impacts of the heat–health watch/warning system in Phoenix, Arizona: assessing the perceived risk and response of the public

2007

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Heat is the leading weather-related killer in the United States. Although previous research suggests that social influences affect human responses to natural disaster warnings, no studies have examined the social impacts of heat or heat warnings on a population. Here, 201 surveys were distributed in Metropolitan Phoenix to determine the social impacts of the heat warning system, or more specifically, to gauge risk perception and warning response. Consistent with previous research, increased risk perception of heat results in increased response to a warning. Different social factors such as sex, race, age, and income all play an important role in determining whether or not people will respond to a warning. In particular, there is a strong sense of perceived risk to the heat among Hispanics which translates to increased response when heat warnings are issued. Based on these findings, suggestions are presented to help improve the Phoenix Heat Warning System.

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“…Another option for educating the public about outdoor siren systems is to push out educational information to elementary, middle and high school students via disaster education programs and lesson plans (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 2011;Vitek and Berta 1982). Currently, studies have shown that hazards/disasters activities are under-represented in U.S. classrooms, leaving ample opportunity to include disaster education in school curriculum (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 2011).…”

Section: Guidance On Outdoor Siren System Alerting For Those Under Immentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As examples, Geography can be used to teach students about human and physical hazards in the locality (Mitchell 2009), homework can be given that promotes student/parent interaction (other disciplines) (Gregg et al 2003), and/or schools could encourage preparedness among families and school staff (Wood and Glik 2012). Additionally, classes could be offered for adults via Weather Hazard Programs (or stand-alone courses) (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 2011;Vitek and Berta 1982), applying evidence-based adult education concepts (Arndt and LaDue 2013).…”

Section: Guidance On Outdoor Siren System Alerting For Those Under Immentioning

confidence: 99%

Alerting under imminent threat: guidance on alerts issued by outdoor siren and short message alerting systems

Kuligowski¹,

Kimball²

2018

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The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)'s Technical Investigation of the 2011 Joplin, MO tornado identified that no widely accepted standards exist for emergency communications in tornado events and more specifically, policies involving the use of communication systems to alert the public in advance of tornadoes. This publication provides evidence-based guidance for communities on the creation and provision of public alerts, including both alerts provided by outdoor siren (warning) systems and "short messages" sent by social media or other short message service (SMS) platforms. It is the hope that this guidance can eventually be used as input for standardization, through codes and standards, of the procedures and practices for outdoor siren systems and short message alerts used by communities across the United States. Standardization of emergency communication policies and procedures could occur at multiple levels, including among multiple jurisdictions, state-wide, regionally, or even nationally.This document begins with a brief background on alerting systems, focusing specifically on outdoor siren systems and short message alerts. The next section presents the methods used for the development of evidence-based guidance on public alerts, including methods for review of literature on public response to public alerting systems, the development of preliminary guidance based on these reviews, and the finalization of the guidance presented here in this report. Then, guidance for communities on the creation and provision of public alerts for those under imminent threat is presented. This document ends with a discussion on unanswered questions, providing opportunities for further research into various areas of public alerting.

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Improving perception of and response to natural hazards: The need for local education

Cited by 35 publications

References 0 publications

Hurricane risk perceptions among Florida's single family homeowners

Hurricane risk perceptions among Florida's single family homeowners

The social impacts of the heat–health watch/warning system in Phoenix, Arizona: assessing the perceived risk and response of the public

Alerting under imminent threat: guidance on alerts issued by outdoor siren and short message alerting systems

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