Severe storms ripped through the Southeast region Saturday, killing over 30 people. While no confirmed tornado hit the University’s campus, over 3,000 people took precaution across the 10 shelters on campus.
According to an Instagram post made by Gov. Kay Ivey, there were two deaths in Alabama, as well as damage in 52 out of 67 counties.
“The sun has risen in Alabama, though,” Ivey said. “We pray for those lives we lost, as well as those who were injured.”
Carson Thorpe, a senior majoring in creative media, is from outside of New Orleans and took shelter at the Magnolia Parking Deck. She said she is used to hurricanes but not tornadoes, and she was appreciative of the information and updates provided from the University about the storm.
On Saturday, the UA alert system sent out five emails, three text messages and one phone call to all students signed up to receive the alerts.
“I think it was just a little bit of unknown, because I personally don’t have to deal with tornadoes on a yearly basis,” Thorpe said. “There’s plenty of resources available. I feel like I haven’t been in the dark at all. If anything, I’ve been overly informed on what’s going on.”
The Magnolia Parking Deck Best Available Refuge Area is the designated shelter for those with pets.
Several students opted to bring their pets with them to shelter, including the roommates of Katherine Mills, a sophomore majoring in communication studies.
“I was kind of stressed out about it,” Mills said. “I just don’t like storms in general, and I feel like it was kind of stressful, grabbing the stuff to get here.”
Since the University was on spring break, other students were not in town for the storms and had to amend their travel plans.
Alex Carlson, a sophomore majoring in nursing, was with a group of friends vacationing to Miami over the break and stayed in Florida for two extra days to avoid dealing with potential storms. Carlson is from Minnesota and has never experienced a tornado.
“They seem very scary, considering they could take my life and all of my belongings. Scary enough that we would rather buy a hotel for two nights outside of the tornado zone so we don’t have to put ourselves in harm’s way,” Carlson said.
The tornado watch expired for the University around 8 p.m. Saturday evening.
