This study investigated how the effectiveness of household emergency plans during tornadoes was associated with family discussions, and the attributes of the plan for different age groups.

A telephone survey was conducted in 2014, one year after two 2013 Enhanced Fujita 4/5 tornadoes. The working sample included 223 respondents who reported having a household emergency plan before the tornadoes. The latent class analysis was used to identify the patterns of the plans and develop a typology based on their content. Logistic regression was used to examine predictors for plan effectiveness.

Two classes of plans were identified: quality plans that were rich in content and limited plans that had lower levels of content richness. Older adults were less likely to have quality plans and less likely to have family discussions. Quality of the plan and discussions with family members increased plan effectiveness among older adults, but not younger adults.

Better emergency planning could be more important for older than for younger adults. The findings were discussed from a gerontological perspective that focuses on older adults’ unique needs, vulnerabilities, and resilience factors.