Lee Erwin reporting
lerwin@clarksvillenow.com
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Members of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), met with officials of Austin Peay State University (APSU) for a tour of APSU’s safe rooms. The main purpose of the tour was for TEMA staff members to make a final inspection and photograph the completed rooms for documentation.
The three safe rooms are located in the basement of the three buildings making up the new Governors Terrace housing complex on Drane Street on the university campus. The project was part of a grant to incorporate safe rooms into the designs of the Governors Terrace dormitories.
Each of the shelters is capable of withstanding winds in excess of 250 mph and combined the three safe houses have a capacity for 1,400 people. In a brief meeting before the inspection began, Joe Mills, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Housing at APSU talked about the concern for safety.
“We’ve got a lot of parents and students asking about disasters, and how we are prepared here on campus and it’s a great thing for us to be able to say we do have these tornado safe rooms on campus,” said Mills. The safe rooms were completed in August of 2013 and Mills said to date they have been used three times with no incidents.
When a Tornado warning is issued for Montgomery County by the National Weather Service Austin Peay Public Safety opens the safe rooms for the students by radio transmitter, which is equipped with a backup, in all three buildings. The rooms are not open for regular use by students except in the event of a tornado warning.
Each safe room has an entrance from inside the building and two entrances and the rooms are fully American Disabilities Act capable. The elevators in each of the buildings also go down to the safe rooms but they can only be reached by elevator when there is a tornado warning and access to the rooms is available.
The rooms also feature security cameras, a telephone and a clock. APSU safety staff are also equipped with radio communication inside the safe rooms in the event of an emergency. In addition to the measures in place for emergencies, there are tornado drills held each semester across the university campus.
Jerry Buchanan, Montgomery County Emergency Management Director toured the safe houses and praised Austin Peay for have the facilities. “It’s great because students can get into a safe place during a severe weather situation. It’s outstanding to have something like this, it’s amazing to have it,” Buchanan said.
See photos below