<p>I was all ready to turn in my deposit today until I heard about this tornado that hit the airport in St. Louis. Is WashU safe during tornadoes? Can any current students give insight into this issue?</p>
<p>I’m still a hs senior, but I was visiting the campus these past few days. (All flights Saturday, including mine, were canceled for at least a day, which means more time at WashU!) </p>
<p>The tornado really didn’t seem to come close to campus, so maybe that’s why I felt secure. At one point they had students evacuate to the ground floor of the buildings, but that was only for five minutes. There was nothing else the entire night.</p>
<p>Students said that this wasn’t a frequent thing or anything, so I don’t think this should be something that scares you at all.</p>
<p>Yes, WashU is safe. Plenty of underground areas to go to. It’s just a fluke that the airport got hit this time. Supposedly theres some building at the med campus that’s now having a leaky roof, but that’s from the storm, not a tornado.</p>
<p>Not going to WashU because of tornadoes would be like not going to a school in texas because of the fires. Every area has /something/.</p>
<p>It’s really quite simple- if the sirens go off, you get inside and head to a basement.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, the sirens never went off once during my freshman year. Last year it was twice (within the same week; nothing major happened although a funnel did touch down about 10 miles away with little damage). This year has been 3 times (?), and this storm was the worst obviously. And even Lambert is supposed to be up and running at 70% by tomorrow.</p>
<p>Thank you :). I think my parents will probably be more worried about this than I am.</p>
<p>My RA (a senior) said the sirens didn’t even go off in her freshman or sophomore years. It happened once last year and three times this year, but there’s nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>^ It was definitely twice last year (as I said- in the same week). Thurtene, and then WILD the next weekend.</p>
<p>But I’m of the opinion that the first one was just because the weather gods hate thurtene ;)</p>
<p>i turned down harvard due to possible earthquakes</p>
<p>Yeah, we haven’t actually had a tornado anywhere near campus during my two years here as of yet. Which reminds me of a hilarious story from last year. I’m walking to the original Kaldi’s (awesome coffee place ~1 mile off campus), when I hear the siren…well I didn’t know what it was. I figured there was a fire, or an ambulance or something, and just kept walking. When I got there, I originally was going to leave fairly quickly (remembered some homework), when I saw a friend of mine. I hung out with him there for ~30 min, when a ridiculous storm started. The owners/workers were afraid that it would break the windows, so we went down into their basement (which had an entrance from the inside). They were nice and brought us free coffee/cookies. No windows broke, and the storm died in ~10 minutes. On the issue of safety:</p>
<p>Most buildings are brand new. I’m no structural engineer, but I’d assume they took tornadoes into account. Lots of buildings have large basements (ex: Lab sci, duc parking lot, library etc.). From the mechanics perspective (not expertise) I have from taking biomechanics, I’d expect most buildings to be fairly sturdy (particularly the DUC, where there are like ~20 massive support columns).</p>
<p>I’m not a current student yet, just a hs senior, but I’ve lived in St. Louis my whole life. In 18 years, there hasn’t been a tornado anywhere near WashU’s campus. On the off-chance a tornado forms, it is generally pretty far west of WashU. You’ll be fine.</p>
<p>I heard about the tornadoes, so I called my son in a panic.</p>
<p>Me: (panic voice) DS, I heard there are terrible tornadoes at the St Louis airport!!
DS: Mom, I’m not at the airport!
Me: Okay. Everything else alright? go back to sleep!</p>
<p>Tornadoes in general are nothing to worry about. I’ve lived here all my life and not once have I seen the effects of a tornado in person. Once you live here awhile you really get used to it.</p>
<p><em>siren on</em>
I sometimes go downstairs now. Maybe not.
<em>siren off</em>
If I’m downstairs I go back up, but I’m usually not.</p>
<p>They are really nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>P.S. - The sirens go off so often here that nobody really pays attention anymore. It’s like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” except without the unfortunate ending.</p>
<p>Tornadoes will practically never touch down in the city. My understanding is that supercells feast on the air 20-30 miles in front of them. Air over the city tends to be more dry than that in surrounding areas, weakening storms as they approach. This is why there has basically never been a powerful tornado in the city. This storm was different because random cells popped up just as the supercell approached the city, allowing it to maintain its structure until crossing the river. St. Louis is not nearly as bad with tornadoes as many other areas, and you are more than safe in the buildings.</p>
<p>I was visiting Wash U during the tornado, as well. Matter of fact, I was on the tarmac when the tornado came through. </p>
<p>In a crazy series of events, I ended up on the TODAY Show and Fox News Channel…</p>
<p>[Eyewitness</a> Describes St. Louis Airport Tornado - Fox News Video - FoxNews.com](<a href=“http://video.foxnews.com/v/4660154/eyewitness-describes-st-louis-airport-tornado/]Eyewitness”>http://video.foxnews.com/v/4660154/eyewitness-describes-st-louis-airport-tornado/)</p>
<p>[TODAY</a> Video Player](<a href=“http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/42729287]TODAY”>http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/42729287)</p>