As it does each spring, the Mizzou campus will take part in the 2010 statewide severe weather exercise, which will be held at approximately 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 9.
MU Environmental Health and Safety urges all university departments to participate in the drill by implementing existing evacuation plans to the fullest extent practically possible.
People should perform or demonstrate knowledge of their building emergency plans during the drill. That means they should move to a designated safe area. If that’s not possible, they can “demonstrate knowledge” by stopping what they are doing, acknowledging the drill and describing the steps they would take during a real emergency. Unlike previous years, an alternate date has not been set in case of inclement weather.
For severe weather, emergency plans should include at least the following steps:
- move to interior corridors away from doors and windows, preferably in a basement or lower floors
- avoid auditoriums, gymnasiums or other areas having a wide, free-span roof
- if outdoors, lie flat in the nearest depression such as a ditch or ravine. If there is time, move away from the path of the tornado at a right angle.
The outdoor warning sirens sound as one part of the local warning network. The sirens are used only as an attention getting device with no way to determine whether the sirens are sounding because of a chemical hazard, weather emergency, flood or other emergency.
Specific information about an emergency will be broadcast by the local media. KFRU 1400 AM Radio serves as the local emergency broadcast station with a direct link from the City/County Emergency Operation Center. No all clear signal will be sounded; sirens are used only for warning.