A major storm system with multiple spin-off tornados raged through northeast Mississippi Thursday, causing brutal damage to some in its path barely missing a chance to hit Oktibbeha County with force.Mississippi State University’s Crisis Action Team activated the Maroon Alert system at first notice of the approaching weather.
Authorities first received warning of the storm system from associate professor of geosciences Mike Brown and the climatology lab Thursday morning.
Dean of Students Mike White said he received a phone call from the geosciences department at 7 a.m. He was informed that the conditions were right for severe weather.
“I alerted the vice president on call, [Bill] Kibler, and around 9 a.m. we activated the command center in anticipation of the storm system,” he said.
The first notice of the impending storm was posted on the MSU Web site at 9 a.m., and a barrage of other warnings followed as the storm progressed.
“The 911 systems set the sirens off and we set instant messages and emails,” White said. “Our campus radio station was blasting the message, our homepage had information, [and] we made announcements over the bell tower in the chapel and sent text messages.”
Kibler said the ever-evolving Maroon Alert system is defined as a redundant communication system that allows communication by all possible outlets when emergencies arise.
“It’s a mistake to depend on one way of communication with everyone,” he said. “Virginia Tech learned that the hard way, sadly.”
The executive decision to cancel classes from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. was made by the Crisis Action Team, which is composed of MSU President Robert ‘Doc’ Foglesong, the vice president’s office, the dean of students office, ITS and the MSU Police Department.
Kibler said traffic on campus became heavy upon the adjourning of classes, and police were dispatched to monitor the congestion, assisting students in the midst of the weather.
“We had a lot of students run and get in their cars when classes were dismissed, which is not what we intended,” he said. “A car is not the safest place to be.”
As the storm progressed the climatology lab continued tracking the storm and giving updates even when it became necessary to move from its third floor home base in Hilbun Hall to the basement with partial equipment.
“Using a radar alone you can’t tell if a tornado is on the ground or not.” Brown said. “We were getting reports of damage and we saw the storm rotating. Our assumption is that a tornado is on the ground.”
The climatology lab also sent updates to WCBI from its field observers.
Brown said there was no devastation reported in Oktibbeha County partly because the storm was cycling or rebuilding its strength as it passed through. The tornados that the system did produce, which hit Caledonia and killed two people, were severe.
“The Enhanced Fujita scale ranks tornadoes from zero to five [with] zero being the weakest and five being the strongest. The storms we had were EF3, which are strong tornados,” he said.
The Maroon Alert system is now sending text messages to students through a new vendor, but Kibler said he credits last week’s success to all the mock runs the system has made.
“Students got frustrated because we tested it so much and the vendors told us some students chose to take it [Maroon Alert message feature] off because of the testing, which is unfortunate, especially in an event like Thursday’s,” he said.
Sophomore biological engineering major Julio Cespedes was one of the students who detested the system.
“I’ll admit that last year I was a bit annoyed at all the testing of the system because I’ve never experienced a true need for it, but with Thursday’s events I now realize this system is indeed indispensible,” Cespedes said.
He also commended the authorities in charge of the system for consistent updates.
“All of the new improvements to the Maroon Alert system, especially the text messaging, gave me a sense of security because I felt well-informed in such unpredictable weather,” Cespedes said.
White said that although the system proved its effectiveness, there is always room for growth.
“It will be improved as we go along and we get better at it and we are soon going to have a nice siren system on campus that will vastly improve the system as a whole and have a variety of capabilities, like voice ability,” he said.