For the first time ever, the Emporia State campus closed because of the threat of tornadic weather,

Tuesday.

A campus communication was sent out that said the university would shut down at 3:30 p.m. because of a severe weather threat.

Carrie Boettcher, public service executive, participated in situation briefings with the national weather service starting on Friday. She is also part of a group called Integrated Warning Team, a local team of first responders and emergency management for other groups in town.

“For severe weather events, my role as emergency manager for the university is to provide administration and departments throughout the university with sound, up-to-date information regarding the potential for severe weather,” Boettcher said. “Administration and departments take the information provided through the integrated warning team to plan and consider whether or not changes to our regular business activities are needed.”

“It wasn’t just tornadoes,” said Gwen Larson, assistant director of Media Relations. “There was potential for very large hail–the type that I have never seen in my life.”

Larson said another reason for closing campus was because of the threat of flooding.

“Early closure was a precaution to assure that students, faculty, staff and guests to campus were not out in horrible weather, for their safety,” said President Allison Garrett. “In addition, because many faculty and staff rely on local after-school programs that were cancelled yesterday, we knew that faculty and staff faced after-school childcare issues.”

Sodexo prepared meals and delivered them to the residence halls. This was to insure that students in the residence halls didn’t have to walk through potentially dangerous conditions and Sodexo workers were able to go home early.

“Emporia was fortunate in that the worst predictions did not materialize,” Garrett said. “There was at least one tornado in the area, but it did not touch down. There was also flash flooding that made several roads impassable.”

Other universities in the area closed early as well, including Wichita State and K-State.

Rob Catlett, director of the Center for Economic Education and assistant professor of mathematics and economics was hosting a conference style economics and personal finance workshop in the Memorial Union on Tuesday.

“Although I have been almost everywhere in the Memorial Union, I was not certain about the safest evacuation from the Ballroom,” Catlett said. “So I went to the MU and had the manager on duty guide me through potential evacuation routes.”

Catlett said some might be safer on campus than in their homes.

“Transition time  can be among the most dangerous of times in case of a tornado as vehicles provide relatively little protection,” Catlett said.

Chris Hoover, director of Police and Safety, said he attended a National Weather Service briefing early Tuesday afternoon and it was clear to him that meteorologists were taking the storm seriously.

“A reduction in the number of calls reduces response time and impacts officer availability,” Hoover said. “I believe most people are generally more comfortable at home. Should a disaster occur and appropriate personal safety preparations have been taken, home may be a better place to shelter.”