A violent storm system damaged cities across the southeast after spawning several tornados and killing two last Wednesday.
The storm caused flooding in the game room and the ceiling to leak in the Student Center on campus.
Calls, emails and texts were sent out by the KSU Emergency Alert System cautioning and updating students about the storm. Classes, however, were not canceled school wide.
Some students were opposed to the school remaining open during the storm. “@ kennesawstate Is absolutely stupid. Making their students drive to class then walk across campus is ridiculous,” tweeted KSU student Kayla Michelle.
Other students also had their issues with the KSU Alert System as well.
“@kennesawstate warning means there is a tornado, watch means there could be one,”
said KSUdegreeFail. Eric Harvey asked “@kennesawstate so do I seek immediate shelter or go to class? I can’t do both…”
Some students like Taylor Hunt was just fed up with receiving repeated alerts.
“If @ kennesawstate calls or texts me ONE more time… #WEGETIT.”
“[Crisis coordinators] are the direct link to my office who are trying to get the best and most accurate information out there,” said Robert Lang, Assistant
Vice President of Security
and Safety. “We are always looking for better methods and technologies that work, but we can’t fight rumors, especially when using text, tweets and other immediate info sharing is present.”
Strategic Security and Safety is the office that issues the actual alerts and monitors radars and alerts from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency and Cobb County Emergency Management Agency.
“We use many different vehicles of information,”
said Lang. “We are always researching other vehicles that come to our attention for timely notifications.”
According to Lang, KSU suffered little damage due to the storm. “[The damage was] Minimally relative to physical problems such as small flooding in
only 3 buildings out of the
37 on campus,” said Lang. “Those issues were either fixed immediately on one, two are still being worked.”
In other areas of Georgia cities like Adairsville, received more damage from the storm. A high EF-3 tornado that was one-quarter mile wide touched down in Adairsville and was on the ground for 20 minutes.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that at least 1,000 volunteers have
arrived in the city to help clean up the damage where hundreds of cars were flipped and 97 structures were damaged.
The KSU Athletics Department will be collecting donations for those suffering in Adairsville at all on campus athletic events until Feb 12.
