State of Michigan law requires two tornado drills per academic year in residence halls. These drills will be initiated by Residential Life.
Tornado Procedure for Residence Halls
When a tornado warning is issued, Public Safety will contact the Residence Life Office during office hours, which will start the chain of communication. If after office hours, Public Safety will contact the Community Coordinator (CC) on duty, who will start the communication. Residence Life will initiate all drills using the same procedure.
The Resident Assistants (RAs) will go door-to-door in their house and/or other assigned areas informing the residents of the tornado warning and the following instructions:
- Leave any room with a window.
- Shut the room door.
- Do not use elevators. Do not use fire alarms.
- Move as quickly as possible to the appropriate evacuation location listed below.
- Sit quietly and wait for the all clear to be announced.
- When instructed, students may return to their room if no damage has been sustained. If there has been damage to the hall, wait for further instructions.
East McNair
- Ground, 1 & 2—remain in hallway with the doors shut.
- Floor 3—evacuate to ground floor hallway.
- Floor 4—evacuate to first floor hallway.
- Floor 5—evacuate to second floor hallway.
West McNair
- 1 & 2—Go to first floor interior hallways.
East and North Wadsworth
- Ground, 1 & 2—remain in hallway, away from lounges, shut doors.
- Floor 3—evacuate to ground floor hallway away from lounges.
- Floor 4—evacuate to first floor hallway away from lounges.
- Floor 5—evacuate to second floor hallway away from lounges.
West Wadsworth
- Ground, 1 & 2—remain in hallway away from lounges and windows, shut doors.
- Floors 3 & 4—evacuate to first floor near guest rooms.
- Floor 5—evacuate to second floor away from lounges.
Douglass Houghton
- Floor 1—remain in hallway with doors shut.
- Floors 2 & 3—evacuate to ground floor laundry and game room.
On-campus Apartments
- When severe weather occurs, listen to the radio or monitor the TV news for important weather alerts and warnings.
- If you are:
- Upper Heights, 2nd floor apartment—go into the downstairs hallway and move into the corner nearest apartment 'C'.
- Upper Heights, 1st floor apartment—go into the bathroom and shut the door.
- Lower Heights apartment—go into the mechanical/storage room and shut the door.
- Stay away from glass as much as possible. Crouch with your knees on the floor, cover your head with your hands, and bend forward until your chin touches your knees.
- Remain sheltered until the warning has been cancelled or the tornado has passed.