Inside Clemson

SEVERE WEATHER: Be aware before storm watch/warnings come

Spring is the season most likely to bring severe weather to South Carolina and it is important to take the time now to review what to do in the event of a weather-related emergency.

Sign up to receive CU Safe text messages on your phone
CU Safe Alerts are sent to everyone with an @clemson.edu email address, but you have to go to the alerts site to enter your cell phone number to receive them as a text message. You will receive CU Safe text messages more quickly than the email alerts. For more information or to sign up for text alerts, go to http://www.clemson.edu/cusafety/warnings.html.

Campus warning system
When SkyGuard, the university’s contract monitoring service, issues a tornado warning, Clemson sets into motion a multi-part procedure to get the word out:

  • Campus sirens are activated;
  • CU Safe Alert email messages are sent to all those with @clemson.edu addresses;
  • Text messages are sent to those who signed up for Clemson’s alert service and
  • Building security coordinators on campus are notified so they can help spread the word.

Clemson University’s tone and voice sirens are intended to warn people outside campus buildings of impending severe weather or other emergencies. In a weather emergency, the sirens will sound a tone and a brief voice message will announce a tornado warning or lightning warning and advise you to seek shelter. Regardless of which sirens you hear, you should:

  • Stop what you are doing;
  • Evaluate your surroundings and seek information about the nature of the warning and
  • Be prepared to take immediate self-protective action, which may include seeking appropriate shelter or remaining where you are.

Take the time now to:

  • Review the information below and on the Campus Safety Web page at: http://www.clemson.edu/cusafety/.
  • Know what to do if a warning is given. A tornado warning means a tornado has been sighted in the area.
  • Make a plan of action for future emergencies.
  • Check out the buildings where you work, teach and live. Where will you go for shelter? The safest places are: a basement area with no windows, a bottom-floor hallway or an interior hallway or interior room with no windows.
  • DO NOT seek refuge in the following areas: Gymnasiums, auditoriums, dining halls, workshops, laboratories, classrooms, exterior rooms with windows, elevators, stairwells, non-masonry buildings, barns, utility areas, mobile units and vehicles. Faculty and students should move from classrooms with windows to interior hallways on the lowest level of the building. Stay in place until the “all clear” is given. DO NOT SEEK REFUGE OUTSIDE. However, if there is no other choice, plan to lie flat in a ditch or culvert.

When severe weather arises:

  • Give assistance to others;
  • Share weather information with your colleagues and friends and
  • Lead students in your class to a safe place and keep them there until an “all clear” is announced.

What to look and listen for:

  • A TORNADO WATCH indicates that conditions are right for spawning tornadoes. If a TORNADO WATCH is issued, designate an observer to monitor weather conditions.
  • A TORNADO WARNING means a tornado has been sighted in the area. When a TORNADO WARNING is announced in your area, go immediately to your pre-planned refuge.
  • If clouds become stormy or rough in appearance, tune in to local radio or area television broadcasts for possible advisories from the National Weather Service or from Clemson’s warning system. If you see dark, rolling clouds; unusual lightning; hail; driving rain; sudden increase in wind or a funnel cloud, go immediately to a safe place. Upon hearing a buzzing or roaring sound, run to safety. If you see those conditions, act immediately, even if you’ve heard no TORNADO WATCH for your area.