Excitment Ahoy!
Just got back from the first floor of the building where we were evacuated to about thirty minutes ago. Tornadoes. Fun.
Apparently two tornadoes were spotted near campus. The sirens kicked on and nobody moves. We're so used to phantom sirens that it just didn't alarm us. Well, me anyway. It's been rainy and messy but not what I considered tornado weather. One of our students (who doubles as a friend of mine) came around to my desk sort of semi-concerned and was like, "What should we do with the sirens going off?" I was like, "It's probably a test or something. Usually if it's anything serious they'll put an announcement on the intercom."
Not a minute later the announcement came. "Severe weather has been spotted in the immediate area, please proceed to the first floor for further instruction. Please do not try to leave at this time."
So off in a flurry we go. Well, those of us with any real sense were in a flurry. You'd be surprised how many student/patrons (even some staff) just kind of milled around in the third floor atrium chatting. And then when we did get everyone downstairs, there were a bunch of folks who stayed in the first floor atrium where the windows are. Uh, duh? Hello? What's the first rule of tornado/sever weather safety when inside? Get into the interior away from windows and doors. The staff went around instructing those folks to get into the interior halls and they just looked at them blankly. Ended up having to make an announcement on the intercom to stay away from the windows and doors and then had to scare them with the outright words, "Two tornadoes spotted, one east of campus and one west of campus." You should have seen the mass of bodies moving to the interior halls.
That lasted about five minutes before they drifted back out into the atrium. *rolls eyes* I, being not quite as dumb as I look, stayed in the hallway and got a short lesson in Japanese from the student worker/friend. (She's an international business major with an emphasis in Japanese who's constantly trying to convince me that learning Japanese is both easy and fun. I find it cool that she's so into it--and not just the language. The entire Japanese culture. I wish I was that passionate about something--anything!)
But apparently the danger has passed momentarily. Still not lookin' good. We've been getting emails that the weather center has said that we're not out of the woods yet.
Fun, ain't it?
Not.
Apparently two tornadoes were spotted near campus. The sirens kicked on and nobody moves. We're so used to phantom sirens that it just didn't alarm us. Well, me anyway. It's been rainy and messy but not what I considered tornado weather. One of our students (who doubles as a friend of mine) came around to my desk sort of semi-concerned and was like, "What should we do with the sirens going off?" I was like, "It's probably a test or something. Usually if it's anything serious they'll put an announcement on the intercom."
Not a minute later the announcement came. "Severe weather has been spotted in the immediate area, please proceed to the first floor for further instruction. Please do not try to leave at this time."
So off in a flurry we go. Well, those of us with any real sense were in a flurry. You'd be surprised how many student/patrons (even some staff) just kind of milled around in the third floor atrium chatting. And then when we did get everyone downstairs, there were a bunch of folks who stayed in the first floor atrium where the windows are. Uh, duh? Hello? What's the first rule of tornado/sever weather safety when inside? Get into the interior away from windows and doors. The staff went around instructing those folks to get into the interior halls and they just looked at them blankly. Ended up having to make an announcement on the intercom to stay away from the windows and doors and then had to scare them with the outright words, "Two tornadoes spotted, one east of campus and one west of campus." You should have seen the mass of bodies moving to the interior halls.
That lasted about five minutes before they drifted back out into the atrium. *rolls eyes* I, being not quite as dumb as I look, stayed in the hallway and got a short lesson in Japanese from the student worker/friend. (She's an international business major with an emphasis in Japanese who's constantly trying to convince me that learning Japanese is both easy and fun. I find it cool that she's so into it--and not just the language. The entire Japanese culture. I wish I was that passionate about something--anything!)
But apparently the danger has passed momentarily. Still not lookin' good. We've been getting emails that the weather center has said that we're not out of the woods yet.
Fun, ain't it?
Not.
Comments
Found out one of the tornadoes did actually touch down. Didn't do too much damage though. A little cosmetic damage to the country club and the Horse Park. The horses, so far as I know, are alright, though. ;)