IU program plans ahead of weather with preparedness drills

Scattered debris and rubble covered Henryville, Ind., after a twister devastated the town March 2. IU is taking steps to prepare for severe weather as spring approaches.

IU campuses will participate in a statewide tornado drill Wednesday as part of Indiana’s Severe Weather Preparedness Week.

“Operation Stormy Weather” is a campaign that seeks to raise severe weather awareness. Marge Abels, exercise program manager for the Office of Emergency Management and Continuity, is involved in the campaign.

“The main goal of the whole campaign is to make people more aware of severe weather and what they’re supposed to do when those things happen,” she said. “You like to assume that people know how to deal with tornadoes and severe weather, but that’s just not a true statement.”

Each building on campus has an Emergency Action Plan. Deborah Fletcher, director of emergency management and continuity, said students should take the correct action when they hear the siren.

“What we’re asking people to do is actually get up, get on their feet and find that location,” she said.

Campus buildings also have building managers who seek to identify Emergency Control Committees.

Those committees, made up of staff members, are responsible for making sure everyone knows where to go in emergency situations. Fletcher advised students to look out for maps posted around the buildings.

“Usually, they’re by the stairwell, they’re by an elevator, up on the wall, and it basically shows you the emergency equipment and locations in the building,” she said. “It will show you where the fire extinguishers are, if there’s an AED in the building and also your severe weather location.”

Emergency Action Plans undergo a review process every two years.

Susan Williams, director of emergency communications services and public information officer, worked with Abels on Operation Stormy Weather.

Williams advises students to have a “buddy” system when responding to severe
weather alerts.

“When the alarms go off, everyone can watch out for their neighbor, be sure their neighbors heard the warning and take the correct action,” she said.

Tornado sirens are activated by counties. Once those sirens have started, they will trigger IU-Notify to send text and email messages to alert students, faculty, employees and temporary visitors to the campus.

This year, IU-Notify is expanding to social-networking sites and webpages, Abels said.

“Some new stuff that we’re going to test with this particular tornado drill is the ability to post the information to webpages, to all the digital sites, subscribe to emergency alerts at every campus and to automatically post to Facebook and Twitter,” she said.

Abels said the Office of Emergency Management and Continuity requires at least two tests for the notification system each year.

Abels emphasized the importance of students being prepared and practicing the proper precautions to take in the event of an actual tornado.

“The more prepared we are, the more times we practice, the better we are at it,” she said.