HG Biggs
Editor’s Note: After a string of deadly tornadoes and inclement weather ripped through the south this spring, The Daily Mississippian spoke to experts and local officials about how University of Mississippi students and Lafayette County residents can be prepared in the event of the worst.
Mississippi has a history of producing strong tornadoes. In Oxford, a city of approximately 26,000 people that houses a university with nearly 20,000 students, large storms pose a significant threat.
On the Enhanced Fujita scale, which measures tornado strength, a tornado of EF-2 intensity or higher is considered “strong”. Wind speeds of EF-2 tornadoes can reach 110 miles per hour. According to the National Weather Service Jackson’s tornado database, Mississippi experienced 64 such tornadoes from 2013 to 2020.
Matt Laubhan, chief meteorologist for WTVA News, recalled a 2008 EF-3 tornado that hit Northeast Oxford that destroyed homes, warehouses and manufacturing plants. That same storm also spawned a tornado that tore through the campus of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., trapping several students in dormitories.
The tornado that hit Rolling Fork, Amory and other communities across Mississippi on March 24 was categorized an EF-4. The severe weather that impacted the southern United States during the last weeks of March forced the threat of tornadoes to the forefront of residents’ minds.
However, once that threat fades into the past, apathy often prevents people from seeking shelter early.
“Until you experience the destruction or see it first hand, it doesn’t really click for you what’s possible,” Laubhan said.
Laubhan discussed how to ensure people take shelter during storms. He explained that it is vital to call family members, friends and partners to encourage them to seek shelter. Those traveling in cars, living in mobile homes and people living in upper story apartments are the most vulnerable to tornado damage.
“Maybe more important is social science, because I can tell you there’s a tornado coming but if whatever lever I pull doesn’t make you take shelter, that’s social science,” Laubhan said.
Laubhan drew stark contrasts between the safety of campus dorms and student apartments.
“There is no way I will find myself on the second floor of an apartment complex, period. Whereas, if you had to (take shelter) in a dorm, it’s conceivable that you would make it,” Laubhan said.
Centrally located stairwells could provide shelter for those in dorms; however, stairwells located on the edge of a structure and with exits leading directly outside are not as safe as a central hallway or bathroom.
“There’s no way I’d be caught on the second floor of one of those (an apartment) because the whole second floor’s going to be ripped off,” Laubhan said.
Lafayette County’s 24 shelters at 18 locations can hold a maximum of 336 people, each with an intended occupancy of 12-14 people. The city of Oxford has an additional 5 shelter locations capable of holding approximately 140 people, combined.
“Some of the buildings on campus are the safest places you can be,” Beau Moore, public information officer for Lafayette County Emergency Management, said.
Moore also stressed the importance of having a secondary plan in case the weather changes rapidly and you don’t have time to drive to a shelter.
“We really encourage folks that are in mobile homes and manufactured homes to use the storm shelters and to go to the shelter before the storm comes,” Moore said.
Shane Fortner, emergency management director for the city of Oxford, echoed Moore’s statements and encouraged people to take advantage of good weather days to plan ahead.
“The good thing about weather is that we have time to prepare, usually days,” Fortner said.
Laubhan, Moore and Fortner emphasized the importance of having multiple ways of getting reliable weather information. Tornado sirens are designed to be heard outdoors, so relying on the siren alone to tell you when to take shelter is not sufficient.
Relying on meteorologists to confirm debris in your area can also be misleading. Laubhan explained that by the time they see debris on their radars, something has already been hit.
“If you assume that a tornado is traveling 60 miles per hour…you can drive through town in 5 minutes, so that thing would have moved at 60 miles per hour all the way through Oxford before I can confirm what touched down on the west side,” Laubhan said.
Laubhan recommends signing up for Weathercall. The user registers a location with the service and receives a phone call as soon as a tornado warning is issued for their area. WTVA News also livestreams coverage online during severe weather events.
Moore and Fortner both encouraged residents to follow Lafayette County Emergency Management and National Weather Service Memphis on Twitter for almost immediate weather updates. Lafayette County Emergency Management also has a variety of resources on their website intended to help residents prepare before weather emergencies.
The University of Mississippi sends out RebelAlert messages after the NWS issues tornado watches and warnings. However, these messages often come several minutes after the NWS warnings are issued.
“Something is always better than nothing, and God gives us the good sense to know to step out of oncoming traffic. That same good sense applies to tornadoes. At least do something to try to protect yourself,” Laubhan said.
During the severe weather outbreak earlier this year on March 24, Kendall Brown, a freshman international studies and Chinese double major living on the third floor of Residential College South, headed downstairs to the kitchen area at the instruction of her community assistant.
“There’s some safe space down there, but there’s also floor to ceiling windows, so if the back tunnels fill up you have to stand there,” Brown said. “When we went downstairs, people were kind of just standing around and not going anywhere.”
Brown decided to return to her dorm room bathroom because she felt safer there than near the windows. The tunnel that Brown described is a small hallway located off the residential college dining room with a glass door at one end.
John Wicks, a freshman journalism major living on the second floor of Burns Hall, said that he was instructed to first shelter in a stairwell then told he could also shelter in his bathroom if he wanted during the tornado warning on March 31. Wicks said he felt safe because his CA’s seemed to know what to do, kept residents updated in a group chat and walked the halls ensuring residents were where they were supposed to be.
Courtney Coleman, a senior public policy leadership major who lived in Luckyday Residential College for three years, reflected on her severe weather experiences in the dorm.
“I think the university did a pretty good job in keeping us safe during severe weather. The appropriate alarms went off, our CAs led us to a safe place, and fortunately we remained safe. We could have definitely been prepped better, but everyone in the Luckyday Program is a MS resident, so everyone was familiar with tornado safety,” Coleman said.
Yersaiyn Yerkin, an international student majoring in mechanical engineering and CA on the third floor of Luckyday Residential College, said that his one week training placed little emphasis on tornado warnings.
“Just based on my interpretation, it’s not as serious as a fire alarm,” Yerkin said.
During the tornado warnings on March 24 and 31, Yerkin said that the domestic students didn’t seem worried about the situation and helped him stay calm. According to Yerkin, alarms are supposed to go off in the building in the event of a tornado warning but did not on March 24 and 31.
The Daily Mississippian reached out to the university with regards to two student’s claims that alarms and sirens were not going off during tornado warnings, but a response was not received prior to publication.
Ole Miss Emergency Management and University of Mississippi Public Relations did not respond to The Daily Mississippian’s requests for comment.
