By
GREG MINOR
BRYANT VENSODEL
CEDRIC COLLINGE
What should students do if a tornado comes through Alva?
The university has a plan set to keep students, faculty and Alva residents safe in case of a natural disaster. Getting the message out there is vital. Northwestern uses its social media outlets (Facebook and Twitter) as well as a text messaging alert system to relay information.
Specific procedures need to happen in order to warn students and faculty in case of a tornado. The university has a text messaging alert system that alerts students for various things.
“Hopefully, all of the students are signed up to the text alert system,” said Steven Valencia, associate vice president for university relations. “Hopefully, we provide enough warning.”
The alert system will first warn students about a possible storm; then it will have information about to the storm itself and alert students to report to the nearest shelter.
Not only should students be taking advantage of the text messaging system, but they should also be aware of where the designated tornado shelters are located. Places are assigned where students could go in an emergency, which are on fliers around campus in every building.
Students shouldn’t rely on staff or faculty to tell them where to go. “There aren’t people assigned in buildings to tell students where to go because we don’t know who will be in a building at any given time,” Valencia said.
A survey of faculty and staff showed that 88 percent of Northwestern employees on campus know where the shelters are in the buildings where they work, but only 54 percent know the shelter locations in other buildings.
Although staff may know where to go, the problem is students don’t know.
“I’m not sure where the shelter locations are if there were a tornado,” said Michael Sion freshman health and sports science major. “We didn’t go over any procedures during Ranger Connection and besides no one ever talks about it much.”
Not only are the incoming freshmen unaware, but transfer students don’t know the procedures or what to do as well.
“I didn’t know we had shelters,” said Joseph Moore, computer science major. “They never spoke of tornados or anything like that at the transfer orientation.”
Knowing where to go is a major factor, but knowing what to do post storm is important as well.
Emergency responders such as EMS, police department and the fire department all work with Northwestern in case of a tornado. “They have maps of buildings in case buildings were to collapse and they know where students are supposed to be sheltering,” Valencia said. So they know to search those places first. Those inside the shelters should remain there until campus receives notification from the weather service or police that the imminent threat is over, he said.
If students are in the dorms, they are to report to the first floor hallway. “Resident housing staff is trained on where to take students in student housing to evacuation sites,” Valencia said.
During the summer of 2017, Alva was facing a tornado threat.
“We didn’t have very many students on campus,” said Calleb Mosburg, dean of student affairs. “It was pretty easy to help navigate with our head residents to move students where they needed to go to be safe. Making sure the safety of our students on campus is a priority, specifically those living in the resident halls or if they are in the classrooms.”
Where is my shelter?
1. Basement of Vinson Hall. Access is available by elevator or exterior door on the west side of the building.
2. Basement of Fine Arts Building. Access is available on the first floor, north wall across from Office of Recruitment.
3. First floor of the Science Building in the east-west hallway.
4. Basement of the Education Center. Access is available by elevator.
5. Bottom floor (first) bathrooms of Jesse Dunn.
6. South end of the main north-south hallway of the Health and Sports Science Education Building.
7. First floor and interior hallway of all Residence Halls.
If you are unable to seek shelter in any of these facilities, then move indoors as quickly as possible and move to an interior hallway or small room at the lowest level of the structure away from windows. Avoid upper floors, large glassed areas, gymnasiums and auditoriums.
At the Enid Campus, students and employees should move to bathrooms on the first floor or into the mail room adjacent to the north hallway.
At the Woodward Campus, employees should seek shelter in rooms 141 or 124.