The Facts: The tornado Raleigh experienced Saturday afternoon left 22 dead and almost 130 injured. During the storm residents and students of N.C. State’s campus were asked to go to the safe spots of their buildings, and follow appropriate procedures.
Our Opinion: During this time of crisis many students were confused and frightened, many of which didn’t know the proper procedures. For the future, N.C. State Housing should ensure the proper implementation of their procedures.
During Saturday’s storm many students expressed feeling scared and unsafe on campus because of the lack of knowledge of the appropriate procedures. Others found that their resident adviser and directors knew exactly what to do and carried out the proper actions.
Due to the opposing views, University Housing needs to ensure the safety to all of its residents by making certain each RA is properly trained and informed on the procedures.
According to the N.C. State University Housing website, the plan for Weather Preparedness includes what weather conditions to expect in the event of a tornado, the safe spots for residents to evacuate to, procedures for what to do while in the safe spot, as well as information on what to do in event of a power outage. Susan Grant, Director of University Housing, said these guidelines are reviewed and approved by the fire chief to ensure students and residents’ safety. There is not currently a drill enacted for such events, but there might be in the future.
These guidelines are helpful and available for any student; however, they are not enforced. This is where University Housing should come into play and make students known of the measures taken in the event of a natural disaster.
This can be achieved through an email at the beginning of each semester, along with text message alerts to student during a disaster that do not only consist of information on a touchdown, but rather instructions. While these types of communication could increase awareness of the safety guidelines during these events, RAs and RDs should be held accountable for knowing the information and implementing it correctly.
Many residents said their halls did not know the proper course of actions, and therefore resulted in improvising safe procedures.
Events like these should not be up to students to figure out, but rather an organized plan of implementation. This should include any RA or RD on or off duty located in the halls should answer the call of duty and evacuate students to the proper locations, inform them of the potential dangers, along with the steps to follow while in the situation. This includes the position to sit in and hazards to avoid.
Students should be more aware of the dangers caused by these events, so they can make informed decisions. Many students could be seen outside or in their rooms watching the destruction of the storm, endangering their lives. University Housing is responsible for the safety of our residents and students—implementation and information is the ideal way to achieve such a goal.
