Staying Safe in Severe Weather.

Being from New York I never really had to worry about severe weather. So when my daughter, in her freshman year called me to listen to the alarms going off in the dorms I panicked a little. I have seen movies about tornadoes. I happen to love the movie Twister, especially since they give a small shout out to OU on Philip Seymour Hoffman’s hat. But,since movies don’t always share the truth,  I never gave it a second thought that severe weather could possibly hit the University.  I was watching the Weather Channel at home and they actually had live pictures of the University stating that all students should be in there shelters. My daughter, like everyone else was safely in her designated shelter waiting for the warning to expire.  So as a new parent to OU and to the severe weather experience I decided it would be a good idea to educate myself on what Oklahoma had to keep my daughter and others safe.

I am super impressed about how serious the University takes weather safety. Under the Housing and Food Services  and the University Preparedness websites they have all the information to help keep our students and staff safe in case of a weather emergency. Especially if your not from the area, it is important for your student to know the county you are in while at OU. If a storm is coming, your child should know if Cleveland County is part of that warning. You can download all weather information from the website. The city of Norman may sound there alarms so being alert of your surroundings on a stormy day is essential. All students have a designated area that they should try to be during a warning. If they are in a different part of the campus, they should know where the closest refuge area is for their safety. They can find this  information on maps located on campus by entrances and elevators. If your student has questions on where to go or about severe weather they can always ask their resident adviser or a staff member.  Oklahoma has also just built brand new above ground tornado shelters through out campus. They can hold 4,000 students if a need arises. This is just another great addition for our campus.   The TV stations, Channel 4 (KFOR) or ABC (KOCO) out of Oklahoma city are very helpful and filled with weather updates and information. My daughter, who is now a junior highly recommends a weather app to help with the updates and warnings. One app she recommends is MyRadar. There are so many apps to choose from. Pick one that is best for you.

Stay safe everyone and enjoy the beautiful spring time! Boomer Sooner!

 

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