TORNADO WARNINGS disrupt CAMPUS

Tornado warning sirens blared three times Tuesday, sending students scrambling into bottom floors and basements throughout campus. Sirens sounded in the afternoon and early evening because of tornado warnings for Monroe County issued by the National Weather Service throughout the day.\nThe NWS issued the first watch for severe storms and tornadoes at 3:30 p.m., according to a severe weather statement. Tornado warnings later prompted sirens at about 4 p.m. Doppler radar reports at 6:50 p.m. indicated a tornado over northwestern Lawrence County, moving toward eastern Monroe County. A tornado watch for the county was issued until 10 p.m. \nTuesday.\nLittle storm damage was reported as of press time, except for a few flooded roads, a Monroe County central dispatcher said. Meanwhile, a Cinergy customer service representative said he hadn't fielded complaints of power outages in Monroe \nCounty but had heard from customers lacking power in the Terre Haute area.\nStudents in buildings from Ballantine Hall to Willkie Quad were quickly ordered into basements and onto safe floors as sirens sounded. University emergency responses start with informing the building manager for each residence hall and academic building. Building managers then enact the building's emergency response plan in order to ensure student safety, officials said. \n"We heard the sirens, and we always have a weather scanner going," said Nathan Wright, the office services assistant for the Kelley School of Business. "We went around the school and the grad buildings to let people know what to do."\nIU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger said the police were in a state of preparedness, watching and waiting to see if they were needed. Minger also said IU has a crisis plan coordinated with the city and county which would become effective if a major disaster, such as the recent twister touch downs in Evansville, were to hit.\n"The University knows how many cots they would need, how much space each person requires in shelters. They have figured out where they would need to dig latrines if it is a long-term emergency situation," Minger said, with the chatter of storm warnings in the background. "We have a pretty vast plan, it's not just, 'Hey, everyone run into the fieldhouse.'"\nStudent response to the tornado warning, meanwhile, included fearful phone calls home and mud-slinging fights.\nJunior Katie Wissel was working in Gresham Food Court near Foster Quad when the first sirens sounded.\n"At first they made everyone stay in and no one could leave," she said. "Then we had to go to the basement."\nWissel said about 25 people were eating there at the time. \n"Some people were laughing and some were mad they had to stay," she said. "A lot of people were scared and calling their family."\nAt the same time, the lobby of the Willkie North Tower was full of students surrounding the big screen television watching the weather. \n"I've never seen so many people in Willkie before," said Willkie resident and sophomore Mark Hoaglund.\nWillkie resident Mary Harlan said an announcement was made over the PA system in all the rooms to go to the basement area. She didn't hesitate.\n"I was watching it on TV at the time and they made it look like it was right over us," Harlan said of the tornado.\nSophomore Natalie Kissel was in McNutt Quad when she heard the sirens and said she was frustrated with the center's lull in response. \n"Now if you hear sirens around here and they say there's a tornado, there should be an immediate jump to do something," she said. "Especially since what happened in Evansville was so unexpected."\nKissel said she and a few of the other residents on the floor went into the bathroom until the sirens stopped.\nMeanwhile, about 15 residents, mostly from Teter Quad, slung mud at one another and immersed themselves in the giant pond that formed outside the School of Education stemming from the flooded Jordan River.\n"This has to be the biggest puddle ever," said freshman Maggie Graber, her smiling face streaked with mud. \nFreshman Reba London said she'd been waiting to swim in a giant puddle for a while, despite any repercussions.\n"We've always planned on doing it," she said. "We're hoping we all wake up tomorrow and aren't sick."\nFreshman Lauren Brunton was part of the same crowd and was unconcerned with the weather.\n"It's funny how there are sirens going off and we're in a puddle," she said.