6A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY MARCH 13, 2007
MICROBURST
MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2007
THE III
MONI
NOW YOU SEE IT...
On March 12,2006, KU students and Lawrence residents alike experienced a freak wind storm that left the KU campus and parts of Lawrence in shambles. One year later, The Kansan looks back at the microburst that closed campus and downed power lines.
On-campus communication challenging in bad weather
BY ERICK R. SCHMIDT
Steve Engleman had seen enough. He was ready to take cover.
"It was scary!" Engleman said. "It looked like someone took a zipper and just unzipped it."
Engleman, a building services employee at the Kansas Union, was on duty the Sunday morning last March when a microburst toore through campus. He and a coworker watched from a window as winds ripped tree limbs and strewn shingles everywhere. He said the experience could be summed up in one word.
"Lucky," Engleman said. "We're really lucky nobody was around."
Only one injury was reported
The vastness of the 1,000-acre campus presents its own set of obstacles. Steeples said.
on campus that day, thanks in part to the timely response of the KU Public Safety Office and a warning system that Engleman said worked proficiently in the moments following the storm. Entrance to campus was quickly blocked off, and because it happened in the early morning hours, potential personal damages were kept to a minimum.
"There's no direct communication into classrooms," he said. "The assumption is that most people can read the signs."
Operations and the academic deans to communicate a plan of response. The deans call department chairs to notify faculty.
Don Steeples, vice provost for scholarly support, agreed that the University was lucky the storm happened so early in the morning, but that steps were in place to make sure the same sort of safety would be offered in a worst-case scenario.
When severe weather threatens the city, Steeples said a "calling tree" was enacted. Officials in the provost's office call Facilities
Lime green signs throughout campus buildings instruct students to stay indoors, go to the lowest floor of the building, stay in interior hallways and stay away from exterior doors and windows.
Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett, senior vice provost, said it was impossible to reach out to everyone individually because of the sheer volume of traffic on
campus.
"It's basically a city within a city with the population density." McCluskey-Fawcett said.
The next step in campus emergency safety, she said could be a text-message warning system that would automatically alert anyone on campus that bad weather was approaching. Those plans are being discussed but have no timeline for enaction.
Campus safety is in the hands of KU Public Safety and the Lawrence Police Department, according to the emergency plan listed on the KU Public Safety Office's Web site. The plan consists of a chain of command from the top down, covering individual buildings as well.
Pat Beard, director of building services for the Kansas Memorial Unions, said his office was part of a standard operating procedure that the University followed in case of emergency. Beard said all Union employees had a list of duties and responsibilities to follow if an emergency were to arise during busy campus hours. Beard said employees brushed up on their roles at weekly departmental meetings.
"We want to make sure we're in the right mindset for whistles and alarms when they go off," Beard said.
Kansan staff writer Erick R. Schmidt can be contacted at eschmidt@kansan.com.
Edited by Katie Sullivan
Many campus trees fell victim to last year's microburst. According to KUInfo, about 100 trees were destroyed during the brief but powerful storm.
Brian Ervin/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
With a little help from my friends
I was sleeping in that morning in my room in Templin Hall. I woke up to a strong gust of wind blowing against the window, and right about then, the lights went out and the tornado siren went off. I took the siren to mean I should probably head toward the basement, so I did.
A chaotic scene, the basement was full of confused people, half-awake, and a few people less than dressed. At least one girl was down there in a bath towel. Eventually, after they allowed us to go back up to our rooms, we huddled around the television, watching the news trying to figure out what was going on. Afterward, we went outside to survey the
damage to our cars because machinery had been blown off the building and debris had flown around the parking lot. My passenger window was shattered, my trunk would no longer open and there were dents and tar all over my car. My friends came out with a trash bag to put over my broken window and helped me clear the broken glass out of the way. At this point, we were not allowed to re-enter the hall because of a gas leak, so my entire floor went to the dining hall en masse to discuss the strange situation and wonder when things would get back to normal.
Dan Holmes
Olathe sophomore
The basics on a microburst:
How it differs from a tornado
Microbursts in Kansas are as common as tornadoes but aren't normally as powerful as Lawrence's microburst last year, Donna Tucker, associate professor of atmospheric science, said.
"Most microbursts are of the weaker variety,"Tucker said."One of the stronger variety is less common."
A tornado, which has circular-spinning winds, forms in the updraft of a thunderstorm,
whereas a microburst, formed in a thunderstorm's downdraft, is a localized column of air with winds speeding downward to the ground, she said.
"It hits the earth's surface and goes splat." Tucker said.
When the splat occurs, winds are forced to blow outward, sometimes causing significant damage, she said. Microbursts typically last two to four minutes.
Brian Lewis-Jones
The soccer fields east of Oliver Hall sustained heavy damage, including the twisting of several metal bleachers..
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Danforth Chapel still stands, despite the heavy winds and the myriad of debris that struck it during last year's storm.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
high-powered winds twisted light poles, signs and traffic lights in the early morning hours of March 12, 2006.