Student Journalism @ Barton Community College
Jacob Flax, Student Journalist
Barton Community College
Great Bend, Kan.
First Published: 16 April 2014
Severe Weather Safety
Severe Weather Plans that the Campus Implements when there is Severe Weather
Note: This is the second of a three article series called Spring Severe Weather Season.
With the severe weather season beginning to get underway, people will need to know where to go when there is a tornado. I talked with Jim Ireland, the coordinator of Facility Management at the Great Bend Campus, to see what his department does when there is a tornado warning. “We sound the tornado sirens,” said Jim Ireland, “and activate the public address system. The sirens are located at the Fine Arts Building to alert the Upper Campus and at Shipping and Receiving Building to alert the Lower Campus.”
This picture shows the Emergency Operations Plan and the Tornado Safety Locations Poster in one part of the Technical Building. Both of these documents are available at most entrance doors across the campus and online.
Jim Ireland also confirmed that there are graduation and sports plans in place in addition to the regular plan for a tornado warning.
Regarding flooding on the Barton Campus in Great Bend, Jim Ireland said, “The campus is on a high ground.” Dust is starting to come back up with the drought that the area is facing. According to the National Weather Service, the Dodge City area reported in January 2013 that, “Visibilities drop to zero, especially near the Colorado border that resemble the “Dirty Thirties” time period in Kansas.”
The National Weather Service Office in Dodge City and the Stafford County Emergency Management will be hosting a Severe Weather Awareness and Safety Presentation on Monday, April 21, 2014, at the Courthouse Annex building located at 210 East 3rd in St. John, Kansas. The presentation is free and open to the public.
In the final part of the Spring Severe Weather Season series, I will be reporting on the historic weather events that hit around the Barton Community College Campuses area including the 2001 Hoisington Tornado, the Great Bend Flood of 1981, and more.