By Jeff Murphy,
February 27, 2017
WARRENSBURG, MO – As severe weather season approaches, the University of Central Missouri
will join other schools and community agencies to participate in the Statewide Tornado
Drill at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 7. Faculty, staff and students on both the Warrensburg
campus and at UCM-Lee’s Summit will participate in the drill designed to orient campus
members in the appropriate measures that should be taken during a real tornadic event.
The university realizes the drill may be a disruption to the daily schedule, but UCM’s
responsibility to protect its faculty, staff and students cannot be over emphasized.
Efforts will be made to keep the disruption to a minimum and it is anticipated the
drill will be concluded in less than 15 minutes.
This drill is being planned, weather permitting. In the event of severe weather in
our state on the day of the drill, the event will be postponed until March 9. The
time is set by the state office of emergency management. All state, county, city outdoor
warning sirens will activate at 10 a.m., including those in Jackson County for the
UCM-Lee’s Summit site. The campus community will be notified by outdoor warning siren,
building public address system (where available), and TextCaster text message subscription
service (best method).
Upon notification, members of the campus community should move immediately to an indoor
shelter/area, the lowest floor of their building and/or interior hallway, away from
glass. The “all clear” will be given via TextCaster when the drill is finished.
