By: Mike Johnson
Early season college football can be summed in a few simple observations. 1) Tailgating parties will litter stadium parking lots, 2) pre-season rankings are worthless, and 3) there will be lightning delays. While I love a good discussion on tailgating and football polls, this really isn’t the forum. However, based on recent human behavior, a discussion on lightning is certainly worth the time and effort.
A common question in meteorology circles after Hurricane Matthew: why didn’t they evacuate? We can’t just say storm surge will be 7-11 feet. We can’t just say know your evacuation zone. Even combining the two, while a step in the right direction, isn’t enough. Riad et. al (1999) said that evacuation can be understood as the result of three basic social psychological processes: (a) risk perception, (b) social influence, and (c) access to resources. But at some point, it all becomes too much! Say, what? It sounds like paralysis by analysis. But, in striving for the zero fatality outcomes, we continue to weave fundamental concepts of risk perception and information processing into weather messaging.
“I’m so ridiculously prepared everyone would wanna be at my house. If it gets to cat 3 I’m out. Cat 2 is a breeze.”
Others felt the coverage on Matthew was dramatic and overhyped.
“I don’t think it’s gonna be that bad. Georgia has a reputation of panicking in weather situations.”
Those who expressed their intent to evacuate did so out of extra precaution, playing it safe and leaving in case the storm delivered a heavy blow to the region.
