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This study explores household-level evacuation decision-making in response to Hurricane Laura, in a context where hurricane risk reduction measures contradicted COVID-19 risk reduction measures. Data were collected using a mail-based survey approach from households along the coast of Texas and Louisiana to explore drivers of and barriers to evacuation, including COVID-19 measures such as negative affect, risk perceptions, protective actions, and exposure. Testing for direct and indirect effects among the drivers of and barriers to evacuation, we find that many of our COVID-19 measures did not have a direct effect on evacuation but did have indirect effects through other factors. We also found evidence of both direct and indirect relationships with regards to more conventional drivers of evacuation found in the literature. We close with a discussion of the limitations and implications of this study. 

Abstract Tornadoes are responsible for considerable property damage and loss of life across the state of Oklahoma. While several studies have explored drivers of tornado adjustment behaviors, their results are not consistent in terms of their significance and direction. To address this shortcoming in the literature, we surveyed households using a disproportionate stratified sampling procedure from counties in Oklahoma that frequently experience tornado threats to explore drivers of adjustments. We used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to explore relationships among variables highlighted in the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and related literature that affect adjustment intentions and risk perceptions. Overall, we found the factors highlighted in the PMT are effective at explaining households’ intentions of adopting adjustment behaviors associated with tornado hazards. Threat appraisals, however, were less important than coping appraisals in explaining tornado hazard adjustment intentions. In further analysis, we grouped adjustments as 1) basic (e.g., flashlight, food and water supply) and 2) complex (e.g., insurance, storm shelter), and found that while coping appraisals are significant drivers of both adjustment categories, the effect of threat appraisals is only significant for complex adjustment intentions. We also found that emotional responses to hazards are major drivers of threat appraisals, stronger than perceived knowledge and hazard salience. Moreover, we found that demographic characteristics affect both adjustment intentions and threat appraisals. The additions to the PMT and categorization of adjustment activities improve our understanding of the PMT in different contexts. Such insights provide scholars and emergency managers with strategies for risk communication efforts. 

Abstract Scholars have produced several theories and models to explain why individuals adjust to hazards. While findings from these studies are informative, studies have not considered how threat and coping appraisals may have differential effects on varying types of hazard adjustments, or how these findings may generalize to vulnerable populations. This study expands on the Protection Motivation Theory to explore the factors that shape hazard adjustment intentions among college students, a population traditionally defined as vulnerable, in response to tornado risk. An online survey was administered to college students (n=377) at Oklahoma State University, situated in a region that experiences considerable tornado risk. While the correlations between threat appraisal and tornado hazard adjustment intentions are smaller than the correlations between coping appraisal and tornado hazard adjustment intentions, findings suggest that threat appraisals become more important for influencing college students’ adjustment intentions when adjustment activities are complex (e.g., tornado shelter, home insurance), rather than basic (e.g., flashlight, first aid kid). This suggests that while both threat appraisals and coping appraisals are important for complex hazard adjustment intentions, basic hazard adjustment intentions are almost exclusively determined by coping appraisals. These findings have several practical implications for emergency management and provide new avenues for future hazard adjustment studies.