Severe weather continues to impact the Southeast, with a recent tornado touching down just 15 minutes from the University of Southern Mississippi’s Hattiesburg campus, prompting concern among students during the height of tornado season.
Petal, a nearby city, reported one death and one injury following Sunday’s storm. Mississippi lies within “Dixie Alley,” a region historically prone to spring tornadoes.
“It was around 7:30 a.m. and people still had class at 8 a.m. because the teacher was already on campus. I felt like that was messed up,” said USM student Gabrille Luckett. “They got in trouble if they didn’t go and lost like 20 points off their grade.”
Over the past week, tornadoes have swept through parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Louisiana, causing damage and issuing weather alerts throughout the region.
USM’s emergency notification system, Eagle Alert, is used to notify students, faculty and staff during emergencies.
“It notified me about the storm, so I stayed inside,” said student Yash Ram. “If I didn’t know about it, I would’ve gone out in the rain and potentially gotten hit by a tornado.”
Eagle Alert distributes time-sensitive messages via text and voice calls. While participation in the program is optional, the university strongly encourages enrollment.
“A few steps students can take to prepare for severe weather is to always have a way to get warnings,” said WDAM meteorologist Riley Bridges. “We are all very technical these days with smartphones, internet, etc., that having a weather app on your phone is great, as well as paying attention to radio and television outlets as well.”
At 6:30 a.m. Monday, an Eagle Alert notified students of a tornado warning for Forrest County, which includes USM’s Hattiesburg campus. The alert advised recipients to take cover immediately. A follow-up message at 6:59 a.m. stated the warning had expired and encouraged students to remain “weather aware.”
The timing of the alert and the proximity to class times caused uncertainty for students deciding whether to attend morning classes. The university did not cancel classes.
College students across the country are advised to stay updated on severe weather alerts using campus systems, local news sources and mobile apps.
“Know campus’ safety procedures in the event of tornadoes or severe weather in general,” Bridges said. “Those procedures are in place to keep you safe! Please always listen to what the university tells you to do!”
