ATTITUDE, DECISION-MAKING, AND BEHAVIOR AMONG A SMALL GROUP OF CITIZENS NEAR THE PATH OF THE SIREN,

A strong F-3 tornado devastated the northwest Wisconsin Village of Siren during the evening of 18 June 2001. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a tor-nado watch, and severe thunderstorm and tornado warn-ings for Siren, but the emergency warning siren was inop-erative. The survey team traveled to the disaster site sev-eral days after the tornado and surveyed the path of the tornado by ground and air. A field study utilizing a ques-tionnaire helped in comprehending the nature of warn-ings and responses on the periphery of the tornado dam-age path. Administered through interviews, the standard-ized survey aided in gathering information on awareness, preparedness, monitoring of the developing extreme event, and perceptions of risk. The team identified common beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes for this "near miss " expe-rience. Though this research utilized a small sample size of 30 individuals, it provided insight into people's respons-es to a relatively rare and dangerous event. The public should not rely exclusively on anyone method of warning dissemination, especially one that may be vulnerable to electrical outages. While television is a very popular way of obtaining weather warnings, findings hint that NOAA weather radio remains a largely untapped and potential-ly successful resource if publicized properly in this part of the country. 1