Tornado Watch vs. Warning

UNO recently installed speakers into all the dorm rooms to make large campus-wide announcements such as weather precautions, etc. However, some real genius out there failed to put one at the front desk. This means that we, as staff, remain completely oblivious to any warnings the students receive. It's even better when UNO announces tornado warnings that don't really exist.

Tonight I was at the front desk at about 11:45 p.m. awaiting rounds when I got a call from one of the RAs saying that the computer-generated woman was broadcasting a Tornado Warning across all the speakers. Moments later I walked out of the front office to find all 80 residents of the UNMC camp (staying at Scott Hall) looking frazzled and lost. I directed them to the tornado shelter and proceeded to figure out just what the heck was going on. Another RA called to say she opened the shelter in Scott Village as residents decided to pile on in. In checking the news and internet, I could not for the life of me find a Tornado Warning for Douglas County. Wonderful. With the UNMC RA's bugging me to sort out this mess I decided to call the ever-so-helpful UNO Campus Security. I'm still not quite sure why the warning announcement was made because they assured me we are only under a watch. Everyone was sent back to their rooms and you'd think this is the end of my joyful night, right? WRONG. Remember the first sentence of this paragraph? I still had to do rounds.

Being the genius I am (but not the genius who did not install the speaker) I decided to wear a full-length dress to church today and to keep it on for duty. I also decided to bring my massive purse to the office with me, but made the awesome decision to take out my umbrella. I'm a thinker, what can I say. At this point, the thunder rolls, the lightning strikes. Another love grows cold on a sleepless night. Or not, but I had to throw a little Garth in there. The thunder and lightning as well as pouring rain bit is true however. All I could do at this point was hike up my dress and run. Heidi and I booked it from building to building barefoot and splashing in puddles. Then the moment of truth came, I turned a corner and slid full speed on my right hip like I was heading to home plate and my life depended on it. Skirt in the dirt, baby! And that's about where the fun stops. Heidi laughed at my gracefullness and we finished our rounds. The rain slowed by the end and we were able to walk back, hair dripping down our faces, my butt soaked.

GO TEAM.