Statewide Tornado Drill at PVCC
Skye Scott, assistant editor
An alert message popped up on the computer screens. Red, yellow, and green drew attention to the message “Emergency Alert System ALERT!” Underneath, in bold black letters, highlighted in yellow, was the actual message: “we are having a tornado drill.”
This message caused no alarm to the faculty in the Admissions and Advising Center, since there had been multiple announcements about the statewide drill. Once the message appeared, the advisers and faculty slowly got up from their desks and started walking to the door. There was no sense of urgency.
Soon after the computer alert, an over-air message said, “Go to a designated tornado shelter area. This is a drill.” The Admissions Office staff met up with the Financial Aid and Student Success office staff in the 100 hallway, before entering a classroom marked as a tornado shelter. Students and faculty can identify these rooms by the sign located on the door of many rooms around campus. The room was soon close to full, with staff, students, and teachers. A feeling of jest and playfulness was also present.
The entire drill lasted about 5 minutes, before a new computer message appeared to tell everyone they could return to their previous location.
Kemper Steele, the coordinator of advising and transfer, jokingly said, “We’re following the tornado drill, but we’re probably violating fire safety rules.”
