AlertVU System cancels warning of a tornado approaching the Vanderbilt campus
At approximately 4:40 p.m. CST, Vanderbilt advised students to seek immediate shelter and avoid windows and doors via the AlertVU system.
Vanderbilt campus.
May 3, 2020
LAST UPDATED: 5:53 p.m. CST
Vanderbilt’s AlertVU system sent out a warning about a tornado approaching campus May 3 at 4:40 p.m CST to the Vanderbilt community. A follow-up message was sent by AlertVU at 5:06 p.m. CST notifying the community that the tornado threat passed and canceled the warning.
Weather forecasts from NewsChannel 5 as of 5:03 p.m. CST indicate heavy thunderstorms/wind. WKRN News 2’s Stormtracker team has reported wind gusts of up to seventy miles per hour, but a tornado has yet to be confirmed by local weather stations.
“If lightning, high winds, or tornadoes are forecast to impact campus within 30 minutes, Vanderbilt Police are notified. Once a storm is forecast to impact campus within 15 minutes, the weather monitoring company will notify Vanderbilt Police to issue a warning for that specific storm,” the Vanderbilt Emergency Preparedness Website reads.
The text of the first AlertVU message at 4:40 p.m. CST read:
“ALERT! A tornado is approaching the Vanderbilt campus. Seek shelter immediately! Avoid windows and doors. Monitor local weather reports for additional information.”
The text of the second AlertVU message at 4:52 p.m. CST read:
“The tornado threat has passed for the Vanderbilt area and the warning is CANCELLED. Severe weather may still be possible. Please continue to monitor local weather reports.”
Immanual John Milton (2022) is from Minneapolis, MN. He is studying Computer Science, Economics and Business. Before being Editor in Chief, Immanual was a deputy news editor. He can be reached at immanual.g.john.milton@vanderbilt.edu.
