The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, May 2, 1979-Page 25
'U' tornado plan stands ready

By TIMOTHY YAGLE warning students of threatening designated housing officers and the
Dorm residents can be informed of a weather and other natural or man- main desk or the security guard at
tornado warning within minutes after made emergencies and telling them South Quad, Mary Markley, and Bur-
the University's Safety Department is what to do. sley Halls. The desk clerk in each of
alerted by area radio stations, accor- FOULKE SAID it has usually taken those halls is responsible for calling
ding to University officials. Aside from five to six minutes on the average to certain of the other dormitories so that
possibly hearing a radio warning, nearly complete the process during test every University-operated residence
students are notified by resident ad- runs. hall is notified of threatening weather.
visors on their halls when a tornado has After receiving word from radio Each hall also tries to notify its building
been sighted and is an imminent threat stations, the University Safety Depar- director at home if the warning occurs
to the city. tment then "fans out the information," in the evening.
According to University Housing said Safety Department Director THE FRONT desk in each residence
Security Manager, David Foulke, the Walter Stevens. hall notifies the resident directors and
University has an adequate system of The department calls one of six resident advisors who then alert the
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residepts verbally.
Foulke said it could take as long as It
to 15 minutes if any of the callers en-
counter busy signals. "It's (10-11
minutes) longer than you'd like it tc
be," Foulke said. "But in most cases.
you have much more time than that (tc
get the warning to everyone)."
As a constant reminder of what to dc
if threatening weather is imminent, the
housing security office has repeatedly
posted "Tornado Warning Rules" in all
residence halls and several University
buildings, Foulke explained.
But, Foulke added, "souvenir seekers
take them regularly."
FOULKE DOESN'T recall an in-
cident when the University has had to
use the current system which has been
in effect since 1976.
Before the telephoning procedure,
residents were notified of a severe
weather warning by three blasts on the
steam whistles by the dental building
and sirens. But this system wasn't
'reliable because it wasn't loud enough
and the wind had to be blowing in the
right direction for North Campus
residents to hear it, said Foulke. City
Council is considering the purchase of
$200,000 worth of new sirens to help
alleviate the problem.
Regarding the effectiveness of the
current procedure, Foulke said, "I
don't know what I would recommend to
improve it. But if I were in Kansas, I'd
be looking at it much differently."
In the event that someone isn't
notified of the weather emergency, and
Foulke said this is a remote possibility,
he reminds people to use common sense
in seeking a safe place. "Get as low in a
building as you can," he explained. He
also suggested avoiding windows
because of flying glass.
Daily Official Bulletin
st vii.hO 'lt ini
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