March: Shelter

In a disaster you may be asked to shelter in place. During the excitement of an emergency, it can be difficult to focus on what you are doing. Know what to do to keep your family safe. Practice your tornado and fire safety plans. If your family/group has practiced, they will be more comfortable executing these plans when the emergency actually happens.

Goal

Know how to respond safely when instructions are given to take shelter.

Take Action

Identify the best shelter in your home or residence hall.

Off-Campus Students

Locate an interior room without windows on the lowest floor of your residence.

On-Campus Students

Review options with your resident advisor and locate interior spaces without windows in your residence hall.

Review procedures to safely shelter in place.

Off-Campus Students

When the alert is received to shelter in place, immediately seek shelter. If you have a small mattress or can get under a desk or sturdy object in the space, do so. If not, sit with your back against the wall and cover your head. Remain calm and wait for “all clear” message.

On-Campus Students

When the alert is received to shelter in place, immediately seek shelter. If you can get under a desk or sturdy object in the space, do so.  If not, sit with your back against the wall and cover your head. Remain calm and wait for “all clear” message.

The following are potential shelter areas in residence halls:

External Suite Residence Halls (Hinton James, Ehringhaus, Craige, Morrison, Avery, Parker and Teague)

Seek shelter in the suite hallways. Cover the closed suite door with a mattress and shut the room and bathroom doors. Utilize the elevator common area as needed.

Internal Suite Residence Halls (Manning East, Manning West and Carmichael)

Seek shelter in the restrooms located in the suites and on floor hallway. In Carmichael, consider using mattresses to block hallway windows.

North Campus Residence Halls

Seek shelter in the floor hallways and stairwells. Consider using mattresses to cover windows in floor hallways.

Ram Village

Seek shelter in the floor hallways.

Baity Hill

Seek shelter in stairwells and floor hallways.

Granville Towers

Seek shelter in the floor hallways.

If you are a student with a physical disability, you can request a sign that you can voluntarily post in your assigned room at the bottom right corner of the exterior facing window. This sign will indicate to emergency personnel that you have a physical disability and could expedite their ability to locate you and provide assistance. You can email your community director and they will reach out to schedule a time to bring you the sign and post it.

If you have an animal (service, emotional support, etc.) please place them in a carry-size crate or place them on a leash to make it easier for rescuers to get both of you to safety.