Severe Weather Awareness Week in Georgia is Feb. 6-10, and the Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response is reminding the Emory community of ways to improve safety in the event of the next severe weather occurrence.

The University uses Telvent, a private service to monitor weather. 

In the event of a tornado warning or dangerous straight-line wind speeds of at least 55 mph near Emory-owned facilities, Emory will confirm the conditions. Then the Emory Emergency Notification System will be activated, including:

• Sounding outdoor sirens and a public address system on the Emory campus;

• Sending text messages to enrolled cell phones;

• Distributing an All-Emory email alert;

• Placing banner alerts on Emory web pages, Twitter and Emory cable television.      

What to do in the event of a warning

For tornado warnings or dangerous winds:

• If you are indoors, you should move to the lowest level of a building, in an interior room or hallway, away from windows.

• If you are outside, seek shelter immediately on the lowest floor of a sturdy nearby building away from windows.

• If no shelter is available, lie flat in a nearby ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands. Flying debris causes most fatalities and injuries associated with a tornado.

• Because vehicles offer little protection, if possible, go to the lowest floor of a sturdy nearby building, away from windows or lie flat in a nearby ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands.

• Weather conditions change rapidly; monitor your local television and/or radio station for the most updated weather conditions including the "all clear," indicating the tornado or severe weather has passed the area.

Sign up for SMS text updates free of charge via the National Weather Service, the Weather Channel, and other outlets. Emory's Twitter Account (@Emory_CEPAR) will be used by the University to send an update to the community when the threat of severe weather has passed.

Other considerations include being aware of falling debris and power line hazards; and consider texting — not calling — parents and friends. Texting uses less bandwidth, stays reliable for a longer period of time and eases the overload on communications networks.

For more information, visit www.emergency.emory.edu and www.ready.ga.gov.