Understanding Storm Anxiety in Children and Teens

Storms bring up big emotions: They make people nervous, fearful, or even excited. There’s a reason the movie Twister was such a big hit—the mystery and power of storms is both frightening and intriguing. They make our hearts race and our adrenaline soar. However, for children and teens, storm anxiety can trigger feelings of helplessness, terror, and intense stress.

When storms threaten, we all have a sense of being at the mercy of extreme weather. But children and teens already feel like much of their life is outside their control. Therefore, fear and anxiety about a coming storm can magnify those feelings of helplessness and confusion. And for kids who already struggle with anxiety, a hurricane warning or tornado watch can feel like just one more way in which their world is falling down around them.

In this article, we’ll look at the types and symptoms of storm anxiety, and offer tips for how to help children cope with the psychological effects of severe weather. We’ll also explore the impact of climate change on children and teens. Storm anxiety and “eco-anxiety” are closely related, since climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

Key Takeaways

• What is storm anxiety, and why are children and teens at higher risk?
• What are the symptoms of storm anxiety?
• How are storm anxiety and climate change anxiety connected?
• How can parents help kids who get stressed by severe weather?

What Is Storm Anxiety?

Storm anxiety is exactly what it sounds like: significant anxiety and fear related to intense weather events, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, or floods. While feeling a degree of stress and worry before or during a big storm is normal and appropriate, children and teens with storm anxiety are frightened and anxious to an irrational degree. 

Moreover, they’re not able to let go of the anxiety and fear once the storm passes. And they may experience obsessive thoughts about storms on a daily basis, even when there’s no threat of intense weather events. Storm anxiety can manifest as constant dread of bad weather or fear of seeing a threatening forecast. 

Who Is at Risk of Storm Anxiety and Phobias?

Storm-related anxiety, including specific phobias like astraphobia, is more common among children and adolescents. That’s partly because they haven’t yet developed the cognitive resources to cope with stress and uncertainty. And some kids have a higher risk of experiencing storm anxiety. For example, children with a family history of mental health issues, such as generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, or depression, are more likely to have weather-related phobias. If a parent or sibling has the condition, that also increases the risk.

Children with neurodivergence, such as ADHD or autism spectrum disorder, may also more vulnerable to weather-related anxiety. That’s because they tend to have higher sensitivity to sensory stimulation, such as a loud noises like thunder, bright lights (lightning), and changes in temperature. 

Additionally, kids who have had traumatic experiences due to weather events and natural disasters are more vulnerable to storm anxiety. That’s especially true if they’ve experienced grief or loss as a result of the event, such as losing a home or someone they cared about. Furthermore, secondary trauma related to natural disasters—such as seeing video or images showing the impact of a tornado or flooding—can trigger storm anxiety in children.

“The accumulation of various stressors over time may make young people more susceptible to mental-health issues when confronted with extreme weather events. Each disaster may feel like another overwhelming event in a long line of global problems they have experienced or witnessed.”

Kristin wilson, MA, LPC, CCTP, Newport’S Chief Experience and transformation officer

Signs of Teen Anxiety or Depression

The symptoms of severe weather anxiety in kids and teens are similar to symptoms of other types of anxiety. Because anxiety involves the “fight or flight” stress response, both the body and mind are impacted. Therefore, storm anxiety symptoms include both physical and mental/emotional reactions.

Emotional Symptoms 

• Intense fear
• Panic attacks
• Intrusive thoughts about storms on a daily basis
• Anxiety about weather that lasts beyond the event
• Avoiding storm-related images or videos
• Extreme distress related to threatening forecasts

Physical Symptoms 

• Sweating
• Rapid heartbeat
• Trembling and shaking
• Hyperventilation or shortness of breath
• Chest pain 
• Dizziness or fainting
• Nausea or vomiting

The Link Between Climate Change and Storm Anxiety

Climate change and mental health are closely linked. One reason is that climate change is causing an increase in the frequency and intensity of severe weather events. According to a study from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, climate-related disasters have increased by 83 percent over the last 40 years. 

Specifically, the number of major floods has more than doubled, and the number of severe storms has risen by 40 percent. The frequency of droughts, wildfires, heatwaves, earthquakes, and tsunamis has also increased. The earth’s higher temperatures intensify the amount of rainfall and flooding, while warmer oceans lead to stronger hurricanes. Hence, news coverage of storms has also increased. And as a result, storm anxiety has become more common among people of all ages.

The Impact of Eco-Anxiety

Eco-anxiety, also known as climate change anxiety, is closely related to storm anxiety. Kids with eco-anxiety feel out of control, overwhelmed, stressed, and depressed about the state of the planet and the threat that climate change represents for human and animal life.

In fact, one survey asked 10,000 teens and young adults around the world (ages 16–25) about the emotional impact of climate change. The results, published in The Lancet, showed that:

• 84 percent of respondents were at least moderately worried about climate change, and 59 percent were very or extremely worried 
• More than half reported experiencing negative emotions such as sadness, anxiety, anger, powerlessness, helplessness, and guilt
• About 45 percent said their feelings about climate change “negatively affected their daily life and functioning”

“Many of today’s young people are more educated and aware of the links between extreme weather events and climate change,” says Kristin Wilson, MA, LPC, CCTP, Newport’s Chief Experience and Transformation Officer. “They understand the long-term consequences of these disasters, leading to ‘eco-anxiety’ or the fear that climate change will worsen and make the future uncertain or unlivable.”

Climate Change and Mental Health in Teens and Children

Just as feeling anxious about a coming storm is an understandable reaction to a real threat, eco-anxiety in youth is a reasonable response to a frightening reality. However, when kids are unable to function or are constantly stressed as a result of storm anxiety or eco-anxiety, treatment is essential. These types of anxiety can trigger other mental health problems or make existing mental health conditions worse.

In fact, a survey of 38,616 US high school students found that teens who had experienced more climate disasters in the past five years were 20 percent more likely to develop mental distress, as compared to teens who had experienced few or no disaster events. They reported extended periods of sadness and hopelessness, as well as difficulty sleeping. For teens who were exposed to storms, floods, wildfires, etc., in the two years prior to the survey, the risk of mental distress was 25 percent higher than their peers.

How to Help Kids Cope with Storm Anxiety 

There are several ways to help children and teens cope with the psychological effects of severe weather. Here’s what parents and caregivers can do during and after a storm.

Center Yourself First

• If you’re experiencing anxiety about the weather, use self-talk, meditation, or another mindfulness technique to calm yourself enough that you can talk to your kids without making them more anxious.
• Do as much practical preparation as you can to ensure that you have food, water, batteries, and other necessities should you need them. 

Provide Reassurance

• Remind them that they’ve experienced storms before and got through them. Share a story about a weather-related experience you had as a kid and how it all came out okay. 
• Preparing children for storms includes explaining your safety plan, so they know you’re ready to handle what’s to come. Let them ask questions and share how they’re feeling and what they’re concerned about. 

Use Practical Strategies for Coping with Anxiety

• Breathing and relaxation techniques can help kids manage panic attacks and moments of intense fear. The whole family can do these together. Try the Box Breathing or Square Breathing technique: Breathe in for a slow count of four, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four, and repeat a few times.
• Limit kids’ exposure to media coverage of the weather as much as possible, as it can often be repetitive, confusing, or make things look scary even when they’re not.

Employ Distraction Techniques 

• During an intense storm or the lead-up to it, get kids involved in something that will take their minds off it. Watch a movie instead of the forecast. And in case of a power outage, make sure you have board games, art supplies, books, flashlights, etc., on hand.
• Get the kids moving—dancing to a song they love, doing jumping jacks, or playing a slow-motion game of indoor freeze tag.

Access Mental Health Support After the Storm

• If a child or adolescent is still experiencing stress, dread, obsessive thoughts, and/or traumatic memories several weeks after a severe weather event, contact your healthcare provider or therapist.
• Newport Academy provides no-cost mental health assessments for children ages 7–11 and teens ages 12–18. Here’s where to get started.

Anxiety Treatment for Children and Teens at Newport Academy

Newport Academy’s specialized anxiety treatment for children and teens incorporates a wide range of modalities to support them in achieving long-term, sustainable healing from anxiety—whether it’s triggered by storms, climate change, or traumatic experiences. Each client receives a tailored treatment plan for anxiety, designed by a team of medical and clinical experts.

In our residential and outpatient programs, clients learn healthy coping strategies for dealing with storm anxiety or other phobias. We also help them question their irrational thoughts, and reframe their fears into positive actions. Our treatment is designed to heal underlying trauma, build resilience, and strengthen family connection and harmony.

Learn more about our anxiety treatment, and contact us 24/7 to get started on the path to healing.

Sources:

Prev Med Rep. 2024 Mar; 39: 102651.

Social Sci Med. 2022 May; 301: 114888.

Lancet. 2021 Dec; 5 (12): 863–873.

UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction: The human cost of disasters: an overview of the last 20 years (2000–2019).

National Institute of Mental Health