Uncertainty and control in the context of a category-five tornado.

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to illuminate the experience and management of uncertainty during a natural disaster. Interviews were conducted with 26 survivors of a category-five tornado that entirely demolished the small, rural town of Greensburg, Kansas. Three primary themes were found in the survivors' accounts. First, the survivors experienced rapidly shifting levels and kinds of uncertainty as they proceeded through the stages of the disaster. Second, the fluidity of much-needed information added to uncertainty. Third, the feeling of lack of control over outcomes of the disaster and its aftermath was pervasive and was often managed through reliance on communal coping. Recommendations for disaster-related intervention programs are suggested.