On the second floor of Ballantine Hall around 9:55 a.m. Tuesday, students walked through the halls calmly, chatting about how quizzes went or grabbing a drink of water.
Sophomore Lilly Forkner was in a Japanese class going over casual speech when the notification for the drill popped up on the projector. She couldn’t hear the sirens from inside her classroom.
A tornado drill was scheduled between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Tuesday as part of Indiana's Severe Weather Preparedness Week.
The drills were part of Operation Stormy Weather, a University campaign to raise awareness for weather preparedness, according to a pre-drill announcement. The drill tested the IU-Notify system and outdoor sirens.
“The drill went relatively well, judging by the lack of complaints,” said Ken Long, director of emergency management and continuity.
Long said data from the a SurveyMonkey survey sent about the drill was still being analyzed. However, he said he knew of one alarm that functioned correctly during the drill but was reactivated after the drill was over. He said the alarm malfunction is being looked into.
When the alerts and sirens began, some instructors were unsure what to do. While some made their way to the ground floor for the drill, others were still in their classrooms.
Freshman Linsey Marchese was in a music class when the drill began. She said her professor wasn’t sure what to do, but another official came into the room and had them evacuate the classroom.
On the ground floor, students were packed together in the hallway with little room to move. The hallway doors were shut for the drill. Many talked to one another or scrolled through Instagram. One group of students broke into song.
Because of how many students are in Ballantine, there’s not enough room for students to sit on the ground against the walls, said Alexia Bock, a graduate assistant in the history department who was helping supervise the drill.
“The students and faculty were all very congenial,” Bock said.
One second language studies class of international students were terrified of the sirens, said Roger Crandall, the operations manager in the Center for Language Technology who also helped supervise.
An IU-Notify email sent Monday said it was important to make sure people from other countries, where sirens might signal a tsunami, know what the sirens mean in the United States.
Sophomore Keaton Cooper was in a class about scientific revolutions when the drill began. He said his professor knew what to do and reminded them of the drill before their class began.
According to a press release about the drill, no all-clear notification was scheduled to be issued. Instead, students, staff and faculty could leave their shelters after 15 minutes.
Once the drill was over at 10:30 a.m., the hallway cleared and it was back to business as usual.
“It’s a good way to get out of class,” Cooper said.
