TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — As hurricane season approaches, locals are being encouraged to be weather aware and severe weather prepared.
Although Alabama is still months away, Pike County has already experienced its fair share of severe weather. Just two weeks ago many counties in the state of Alabama were hit hard by intense storms and tornados. Thankfully, residents of Pike County, including one Troy University student whose house was narrowly missed by a tornado, knew what to do and how to protect themselves.
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“We grabbed, blankets, waters, external chargers, things like that, and we all went down into our basement,” said sophomore accounting major Abby Skipper. “We kept a watch of all the weather apps making sure we knew where; we were listening out for the sirens.”
However, when it comes to safety protocol on campus, Skipper worried that some students not quite accustomed to the state’s climate wouldn’t know how to react in a severe weather emergency.
“There’s a lot of international travelers here so I feel like it could be better for people that don’t live down here, that don’t know about how severe tornados can be,” Skipper explained.
Troy University Dean of Student Services and Pike County Emergency Management Director Herbert Reeves said both organizations are actively encouraging people to prepare for potentially dangerous situations sooner rather than later.
“We have seen people wait until the last minute and have had to ride out a storm either in a mobile home or something like that.”
Reeves pointed to TROY’s current severe weather shelters, including storm shelters located in two dormitories.
“There’s storm shelters in Rushing Hall, Jones Hall. We use a notification system through our SOS where we can send out warnings to people to begin the evacuation process”
On-campus students aren’t the only ones who have a safe place to go. People who live off campus also have safe spaces.
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“We have some designated areas in the county as well as a designated shelter where people can go to get out of severe weather, particularly if they live in what we would view a sub-standard home. We certainly encourage people to get out of mobile homes.”
In the past, Brundidge United Methodist Church, Salem Baptist Church in Brundidge, Troy Recreation Center, and the Troy University Student Center have all been used as storm shelters.
The Pike County EMA utilizes a system similar to TROY’s SOS, called Rave Alert. The state of Alabama uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS). All of these systems are meant to give people in Alabama as much time as possible to reach safety.
To sign up to Troy SOS and receive notifications of weather evacuations or any other dangers that may cause campus closure, go to sos.troy.edu.
