As temperatures rise and the days grow longer, students look forward to the arrival of spring and the change in weather the season provides. The arrival of spring also brings a heightened risk of severe weather brought about by the season’s increasing temperatures and changing conditions, which can be difficult to adjust to for some students.
Tuscaloosa is no stranger to these severe weather risks. The area has experienced some of the worst tornadoes in the country’s history.
“We’re sitting in the middle of FEMA Region 4, and FEMA Region 4 gets more disasters than any other part of the country,” said Laura Myers, director and senior research scientist for the UA Center for Advanced Public Safety.
Myers studies the weather warning communication process and how communities, including the University and surrounding Tuscaloosa area, can become more resilient in the face of weather emergencies.
“We have at The University of Alabama an Office of Emergency Management, and that’s kind of unusual for universities to have their own,” Myers said. “They’re kind of state of the art for the state of Alabama and universities in general.”
Following the deadly tornado outbreak in the Tuscaloosa area on April 27, 2011, the University has increased weather safety initiatives on campus. Myers said that since the event, every new building on campus has been constructed to include a storm shelter.
“We just want to make sure that everyone is as protected as they can possibly be,” Myers said.
Despite the extensive weather management measures put in place by the Office of Emergency Management and other on- and off-campus entities such as the Tuscaloosa County and Alabama State Emergency Agencies, UA students — especially those from out of state who are unfamiliar with Alabama’s weather conditions — can still feel overwhelmed by the threats these occurrences pose.
Abby Strickland, a junior majoring in English who has lived in Georgia and Tennessee, considers herself to be “pretty nervous” when it comes to the threat of severe weather but said that the University’s response system during weather events is thorough.
“I think in terms of the UA Safety app and getting those alerts out, they do a pretty good job,” Strickland said.
Other out-of-state students shared similar sentiments about the University’s emergency alert system.
“I feel very safe because I feel like they’re extra cautious, which I respect,” said Thomas Hughes, a sophomore from Virginia majoring in mechanical engineering and German. “Sometimes I think it’s too much, but I remember that there’s a reason, and I don’t get annoyed when I get the random alerts.”
Despite his praise for the alert system, Hughes said the University could do a better job of advertising its nine on-campus storm shelters.
“I’ve seen a couple, but depending on where I’m at, I wouldn’t actually know where to go,” he said.
Jake Smithson, a senior majoring in finance and history who is also from Virginia, also said that storm shelter locations could be better communicated, especially for first-year students on campus.
“I’m a senior now, so I know, like, every shelter, but I’d say as a freshman the parking deck was really the only one I knew,” Smithson said.
Josiah Tshibaka, a freshman from Alaska majoring in accounting, had to undergo more of an adjustment when dealing with severe weather in Tuscaloosa.
“I come from a place that has a lot of extreme weather that is not so much different from down here,” Tshibaka said, noting the major difference is experiencing tornado warnings.
Tshibaka said the University generally does a good job of handling severe weather, but he has often relied on his peers to understand what he felt was an overcomplication of severe weather alerts and preparations.
“It took me a little bit of getting over, but just having friends and resources down here that told me stuff like ‘Okay, if they put out a watch, you don’t need to worry. If they put out a warning, things are getting more serious,’” Tshibaka said.
When considering students who have less exposure and information about Alabama’s severe weather, Myers believes that communication is the most important tool for being prepared in the face of these emergencies. She said that the University attempts to capitalize on this communication as soon as possible, sharing information with students as early as their orientation.
“Students and parents and caregivers come to Bama Bound, and they try to get their attention, and they try to address those people coming from places that don’t have severe weather and get them to understand that it’s not something to fear as long as you have an alert notification, as long as you know what it is you’re supposed to do,” Myers said.
