Vinemont storm shelters are seen in this Times photo from April 2015.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A new research project getting under way around Tuscaloosa aims to document how people react to severe weather.

The University of Alabama says research sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Severe Storms Laboratory is meant to help improve understanding of what happens in a home when bad weather is threatening.

Students from the university are being hired and trained to observe volunteer households. The households will be assessed before, during and after severe weather events through a combination of telephone contacts and in-home observation.

The head of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Public Safety, Laura Myers, says the study aims to document how people get weather alerts and what they do when they get them.

A tornado killed more than 50 people in Tuscaloosa in 2011.