On Tuesday evening, Oberlin students and community members were alerted to the danger of a tornado.

Early in the evening, a tornado watch was issued. A watch means that weather conditions are right to cause a tornado. Around 7:45 p.m., alerts notified people in the area that the National Weather Service had declared a tornado warning, meaning that a tornado has been reported or sighted on radar in the watch area. Around 9 p.m., the NWS ended the warning. 

Director of Campus Safety Bruce Jamison said that a tornado was sighted in Lorain County, but it did not touch down on or near Oberlin’s campus and no damage was sustained.

Jamison said that Campus Safety responded to the tornado watch and warning by monitoring weather services, keeping an eye on the weather outside, and having on-duty officers patrolling the campus telling students who were out to seek shelter. Campus Safety was also in touch with College leadership, who told them that Residence Assistants were helping students within residence halls find shelter.

Students — many of whom come from areas where tornadoes are not common — expressed confusion over how to respond to tornado watches and warnings.

“I feel like I am not as prepared because I’m from a more mountainous area where we mostly just get tornado watches, not warnings,” College third-year Kiley Flynn said. “I obviously know to go in the basement, but I also was sitting next to a friend who is from New York City and has no experience with tornadoes. It got me thinking that really a lot of people are moving into Ohio from areas that probably aren’t typically getting tornadoes and [it] feels like we should be educated a little more on places on campus to go and just general safety.”

Flynn was on the first floor of King for a movie screening when the alerts began. She decided to stay where she was because the room was low to the ground and had no windows.

College fourth-year Dan Ha Le said that she was eating at The Feve when the warning was declared. She said people came down from upstairs and off the street to seek shelter, and moved away from the windows.

Le also said she wasn’t sure how to properly react to a tornado warning. 

“Having a tornado drill would be good,” Le said. “I actually didn’t really understand what kind of destruction a tornado crossing by Oberlin would bring. … If it wasn’t for my friends, I would’ve just walked outside and gone home, but they were insisting that I stay indoors.”

Jamison said that the warning was a good reminder to brush up on tornado safety knowledge.

“This is a great teachable moment,” he said. “Somebody might go their whole career here again without ever experiencing that, but if there is one next week, why don’t you make yourself educated on what to do to protect yourself if it would happen again?”

Jamison said students should consult with their RAs about the best locations to shelter because all residence halls are different. As a general rule, students should seek shelter on the lowest floor of a building and away from windows, he said. Jamison added that injuries from flying debris are the most common in tornados.

The Oberlin Fire Department website provides additional information on how to stay safe during inclement weather.

“The safest place in the home is the interior part of a basement,” the website reads. “If there is not [a] basement, go to an inside room, without windows, on the lowest floor. This could be a center hallway, bathroom, or closet. For added protection, get under something sturdy such as a heavy table or workbench. If possible, cover your body with a blanket, sleeping bag, or mattress, and protect your head with anything available — even your hands. Avoid taking shelter where there are heavy objects such as pianos or refrigerators on the area of floor that is directly above you. They could fall through the floor if the tornado strikes your house.”

The Fire Department also advises those traveling in a vehicle or residing in a mobile home to seek shelter in a nearby structure. If not possible, people should lie flat in a ditch or under a culvert, with their hands covering their heads.