Oklahoma weather can be severe and difficult to predict. It is important to keep abreast of the weather outside and the 24 hour forecast. The City of Claremore maintains a citywide civil defense warning siren network that is used to signal imminent danger from tornadoes.

Steady Siren 3-5 Minutes = Imminent Danger

  • Take shelter immediately in the nearest suitable shelter location.
  • You should seek shelter in interior spaces of buildings away from windows and exterior walls and preferably on the lowest floor possible.
  • Your particular shelter location should be planned.
  • Once the sirens sound, it is too late to seek shelter at a remote location. However, if you are abreast of dangerous weather advancing toward your location before the sounding of the siren, you may choose to seek shelter elsewhere.
  • It is important in these situations to base your decisions on public weather advisories and warnings disseminated by nearby local media outlets.

Tornado Warning Issued

When a tornado warning is issued for the Claremore area by the National Weather Service (NWS), the public broadcast media or any Tulsa televisions station, or the sounding of the civil defense warning sirens, please do the following:

  • Proceed immediately to your nearest shelter area.
  • Go to the lowest level in your building away from doors and windows. (If accessible, the basement area is best.)
  • Student Apartment Complex – go to the lowest level, using the rooms on the north/east section.
  • To minimize danger from flying debris, close doors around your area and stay away from windows.
  • If you cannot get to a lower level, seek immediate shelter in any bathroom.
  • If needed, RSUPD will unlock the basement of the Will Rogers Auditorium.
  • Remain in the shelter area until the storm front clears the areas or the public broadcast media provides an all-clear signal.
  • RSUPD suggests you take a battery-operated radio or have access to a TV in your shelter area.

National Weather Service (NWS) Terminology

  • Severe Thunderstorm: Wind gusts of 50 knots (58 mph) or greater and/or hail three quarters of an inch in diameter or larger.
  • Damaging Wind: Sustained or gusty surface winds of 60 mph or greater.
  • Tornado: A violent local storm of short duration with high-speed wind rotation about a vortex with a funnel extending from the base of the clouds to the ground.
  • Funnel Cloud: A tornado-type funnel extending downward from the clouds but not touching the ground.
  • Tornado or Severe Thunderstorm Watch: Issued by the National Weather Service when conditions for a tornado or severe thunderstorm are favorable in the named area.
  • Tornado or Severe Thunderstorm Warning: Issued by the NWS when a tornado or severe thunderstorm has been sighted visually or detected by radar.  The location, direction, and speed of movement of the storm are provided.  Residents of the specified area should take immediate safety precautions.
  • Tornado Warning Issued: When a tornado warning is issued for the Claremore area by the NWS, the public broadcast media or any Tulsa televisions station, or the sounding of the civil defense warning sirens.

Severe Weather And Tornado Precautions

  1. The area communities maintain a citywide civil defense warning sirens that will be sounded in the event of a tornado warning. If severe weather is imminent and you are outdoors, move indoors as quickly as possible.
  2. Consider obtaining a flashlight and weather radio for your department.
  3. Close hallway doors as you leave to shield the corridors from flying debris.
  4. Move to any of the designated shelters (listed below) in each campus building (basements, stairwells, interior rooms). Become familiar with the location of the shelter in your building before a storm occurs.
  5. When you are off campus or in buildings without designated shelters, move to a small room on the lower level, an interior hallway, or basement.
  6. Avoid upper floors, large glassed areas, auditoriums, and windows.
  7. Stay out of parking garages, auditoriums and exterior walkways.  Stay away from electrical appliances.
  8. Use the telephone for emergency calls only.
  9. Stay calm and alert.
  10. On campus call 343-7624 to report any damage. Off campus call 911.
  11. Tune into media broadcasts for updated weather information.

Designated Shelters

When a severe weather-related alert is issued, it is important to seek shelter immediately. The main storm shelters on each campus are as follows:

  • Claremore Campus:
    • Chapman Dining Hall basement (designated shelter for residents of campus housing)
    • Bushyhead Fieldhouse basement
    • Will Rogers Auditorium basement
    • When severe weather is threatening the Claremore campus, the Campus Police will unlock the above facilities.
  • Bartlesville Campus:
    • REDA Building basement
  • Pryor Campus:
    • Lower-level restrooms located at either end of the building

If you are unable to seek shelter in these designated locations, you should move indoors immediately and go to the most central location on the lowest floor of the building where you are located, while avoiding windows if at all possible. Please remain in your location until the threat has passed.

Lightning Safety

  1. All thunderstorms produce lightning that can strike as far as ten miles away from any rainfall. On average, 20% of strike victims die; 70% of survivors suffer serious long-term effects. Lightning kills more people than tornadoes do.
  2. Postpone activities promptly if you hear thunder and go to a safe shelter immediately. Get out of the water and don’t stand in puddles of water, even if you are wearing rubber boots.
  3. Sturdy buildings are the safest place to be. Avoid sheds, picnic shelters, baseball dugouts, and bleachers. If no sturdy building is nearby get in a hardtop vehicle with windows closed.  The steel frame of the vehicle provides some protection if you are not touching metal.
  4. If you can’t get to a shelter, avoid trees. Crouch in the open, keeping twice as far away from a tree as it is tall.
  5. Coaches and leaders should monitor the weather during any practice sessions or games.
  6. Avoid metal! Drop metal backpacks, stay away from clotheslines, fences, exposed sheds and electrically conductive elevated objects. Don’t hold on to metal items such golf clubs, fishing rods, tennis rackets or tools.
  7. Stay several yards away from other people. Don’t share a bleacher bench or huddle in a group.
  • What To Do If Someone Is Struck By Lightning:
  1. Call Med-Tech Ambulance (911), then RSU Police immediately. Get medical attention as quickly as possible.
  2. Give first aid. If the victim has stopped breathing, begin rescue breathing. If the heart has stopped beating, a trained person should give CPR. If the person has a pulse and is breathing, address any other injuries.
  3. People struck by lightning carry no electrical charge that can shock other people. You can attend to them without risk of shock.