This Week @ AU

Feb. 23-27 is Alabama Severe Weather Awareness Week. Do you know what to do in the event of severe weather? It’s important to prepare ahead of time for dealing with the common severe weather threats in Alabama.
-Severe thunderstorms/damaging winds: Severe thunderstorms can contain hail, high winds, lightning and tornadoes. Damaging wind events (often associated with severe thunderstorms) occur 10-20 times more often than tornadoes in Alabama. During thunderstorms, you should stay inside a substantial building until they are over. When thunderstorms are expected, pick up loose items outside so they don’t become dangerous projectiles.
-Lightning: All thunderstorms, whether severe or not, contain lightning. Lightning is typically responsible for more deaths in Alabama than tornadoes. If you can hear thunder, you can be struck by lightning. Practice lightning safety by staying inside during a thunderstorm.
-Tornadoes: Auburn University has designated severe weather shelters in most campus buildings for sheltering during tornado warnings. Classes are suspended for the duration of a tornado warning. Please visit www.auburn.edu/emergency to view our new video highlighting safe procedures for tornado watches and warnings.
-Flooding: The biggest flooding hazard to Auburn University is flash flooding, caused by heavy rainfall in a short period of time. Stay away from flooded areas and never drive through a flooded roadway.
-NOAA weather radios: One of the best ways to stay updated about weather conditions is via a NOAA weather radio. NOAA weather radios are very affordable (as low as $20) and provide current weather conditions, watches and warnings for your area. They can be purchased at many electronics, hardware or sporting goods stores. Make sure to purchase one with S.A.M.E. technology, which can be programmed to broadcast alerts for only the counties that you specify.
For more severe weather and emergency preparedness information, please visit the Auburn Emergency Management Web site at www.auburn.edu/emergency. Be weather aware and be safe!

Tags: Alabama Severe Weather Awareness Week, emergency preparedness, severe weather

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 2:54 pm and is filed under Campus Announcement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.