Wednesday, Sept. 10 students by the hundreds ran into the basement of the student union as sirens rang about the possibilities of a tornado. The first warning came through at 4:11 p.m. as winds whirled through the sky at 35 m/h heading northeast.

Within the basement, Director of the Student Union Ann Bruno gave the details of the storm to the students through a megaphone. Crammed students stayed calm by tweeting the event, eating, and even studying.

Associate Vice President Chief Communication Officer Eileen Korey said, “We work with the Summit County authorities and when they determine a weather threat to the university we have to shut down. We work together with the UAPD, the emergency management officials and Summit County to make sure we are all on the same page in the case of a campus emergency.”

“I guess it’s better to be down here than getting swept away on the third floor,” Student Joe Conner said.

When 5:00 p.m. came around, the lockdown was extended to another 45 minutes. As soon as the clock ticked 5:45 p.m., Bruno gave an “all clear” announcement through the megaphone. The students sighed with relief knowing that they could soon get back to their normal lives.

“Everything went according to plan. Sometimes getting people to move and believe it’s real can be difficult, but everyone took their safety seriously,” Bruno said.