On a Sunday late in May 2011, the campus of Missouri Southern State University, located in Joplin, Mo., was hosting the Joplin High School graduation. Within 30 minutes of the commencement’s conclusion an EF5 tornado took aim at the town. Although the regular students, usually numbering nearly 6,000, had gone home for summer break, the campus was still full of visitors for the graduation.
Fortunately, the MSSU campus had an emergency communication system that provided mass notification capabilities inside the university buildings as well as exterior areas, using powerful speaker arrays. Only recently installed, the system had been tested every Monday morning, but this was the first real emergency. When the tornado warning was issued, the university took immediate action: “A tornado warning has been issued for our area,” the speakers said. “Move to the lowest floor away from windows and stairways. DO NOT EXIT a building. If outdoors, move to a building immediately and seek shelter.” The university was lucky and did not get hit by the very large and unpredictable tornado. But if it had been, the visitors and campus personnel were sheltered in the safest buildings on campus and knew where to go, thanks to the clear, concise instructions.