Safety Measures after the 2011 Joplin, Missouri, Tornado

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 ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Geographical review 2015-04, Vol.105 (2), p.199-215
Main Authors:	Paul, Bimal Kanti, Stimers, Mitchel
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Authority Community Compliance Damage Disaster planning Disasters Economic recovery Education Emergency management Government agencies Home ownership Homeowners Income redistribution Joplin Local government May 2011 tornado Methods Missouri Property damage recovery and reconstruction Researchers Safety Safety and security measures Safety measures Storms Studies Surveys tornado safety measures Tornadoes U.S.A United States
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Summary:	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.
ISSN:	0016-7428 1931-0846