Time to get prepared - it's tornado season

Friday, March 30, 2012

By Aubrey Raupe

OSU Manager of Emergency Operations Ron Hill is urging students, faculty and staff to develop an individual safety plan to guide their actions on campus and at home in case severe weather strikes.

“While no one wants to experience tornadoes or severe storms, they are realities in Oklahoma, so it’s important to know what safety precautions to take ahead of time to ensure you can react quickly,” said Hill.

The two designated public tornado shelters on campus are Ag Hall and Engineering South. The Student Union is no longer an official tornado shelter, according to Hill. If you can’t make it to a designated shelter in time, and the building you are in does not have a basement, go to the ground floor and enter an interior room or hallway and shield yourself from any possible debris.

Additional tornado safety tips include: stay away from windows, put as many walls as possible between you and the outside, crouch as low as you can and cover your head with your hands to protect your head from  debris and limit phone calls to emergency calls only.

Hill also recommends a putting together a tornado safety kit to be ready at any time day or night. “Your kit should include a first aid kit, battery powered radio, flashlight and extra batteries for both, as well as medications and some type of identification card, bottled water and hard-soled shoes.”

For weather updates in the Stillwater area, tune in to local radio stations including KOSU-FM.