The University, Urbana and Champaign are working together to make emergency plans for students and local citizens to prepare for the upcoming severe weather season.

The University of Illinois Police Department works with different units on campus to establish an emergency operations center with a consistent plan for notifying students of disasters.

“If we had major severe weather, like a tornado, we would send out an Illini Alert to the campus community, advising them to seek shelter,”  said Lt. Todd Short from the UIPD.

Short said the UIPD works directly with the national weather service in Lincoln, Illinois, and Champaign County emergency management to make sure it is getting severe weather updates as quickly as possible.

“We disseminate that information if we think there’s an imminent threat to safety on our campus,” he said.

With the coming spring season comes tornado season as well, Short said.

“We always have the possibility of flash floods associated with severe thunderstorms, but tornadoes are the things that scare us the most,” he said.

Emergency action plans and storm shelter locations for buildings on campus will be posted in hallways, elevators, bathrooms and classrooms, Short said.

Barb Stiehl, assistant to the public works director in Urbana, serves as the vice president of the Illinois Public Works Mutual Aid Network.

The Mutual Aid Network is an organization of public works agencies within the state whose mission is to help other public works agencies when they are stricken by unexpected emergencies.

Tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flooding, high winds, hail and lightning can cause property damage, injuries and fatalities. These events are more likely to occur in the warmer months, Stiehl said in an email.

Citizens should have a plan in place before any severe weather threats occur, Kris Koester, public information officer in Champaign Public Works, said in an email.

When weather situations look threatening, people should listen to the radio or television or sign up for weather alerts to receive them on a mobile phone, Koester said.

Bob Rauber, head of the atmospheric sciences department, said it is important for citizens to know the difference between watches and warnings.

“Watches are issued when atmospheric conditions are such that an event like a severe thunderstorm, tornado or flood is possible, and warnings are issued when the event is believed to be occurring in the warning area,” he said.

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