Last week’s tornado drill was a success, said IU’s director of emergency management and continuity, but a survey sent about the drill found an alarm malfunction and several classes continued to teach during the drill.
“We need to practice this and learn where tornado shelters are in buildings,” said Ken Long, director of emergency management and continuity. “Oftentimes, we don’t prep beforehand, so this allows us to become familiar with emergency action plans for each building.”
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 survey was sent in a pre-drill announcement. Long said a relatively small number of people filled out the survey, but the respondents were a fairly even mix of faculty, staff and students.
One interior building alarm tied to the fire alarm system malfunctioned during the drill, but it is being fixed, Long said.
Some students said they could not hear the sirens from inside their classrooms, but Long said the outdoor sirens are not designed to be heard indoors. He said people were meant to be notified indoors through the desktop notifications and phone notifications.
Others said they wanted placards with emergency information placed in every classroom on campus. Long said more than 1,200 cards have been installed in classrooms around campus over the past six months, mostly in large assembly areas and classrooms.
Long said some people were expecting an all-clear notification to tell them when the drill was over, but a pre-drill announcement said no all-clear would be given. The drill was modeled after National Weather Service alerts, which issue watches, warnings and advisories with expiration dates rather than all-clear notifications.
There was positive feedback about desktop notifications, which alerted people of the drill. Long said modifications to these notifications made the alerts work well.
Long said the drill was well worth the time and effort.
