Tornadoes tore through the Dallas area Tuesday, peeling roofs off homes, tossing trucks into the air and leaving tractor trailers strewn along highways. (Associated Press)
If yesterday was any indication for May flowers, then it looks like Dallas will be in full bloom next month. April brought showers and bad weather Tuesday afternoon as an estimated 10 tornadoes ripped through the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to the D-FW Red Cross.
Authorities said trailers were tossed around like toys, roofs collapsed, power lines were ripped down and more than 40 flights were cancelled from Love Field Airport.
American Airlines announced via Twitter that they were canceling all flights from D-FW International Airport the remainder of the day.
Twitter wasn’t only a source for announcements and updates as wild weather spun through Texas. For many SMU students, it was a means of expressing their frustration.
With a new alert system in place, SMU’s emergency preparedness team sent out multiple alerts, some of which weren’t correct, causing aggravated students to tweet about their irritation.
At times, students were confused by the alerts – not sure if they needed to seek shelter.
“SMU’s emergency alerts are so ill timed you should do the opposite of what the alert advises,” @ErikaLarson tweeted.
Junior Conner Sherline got witty with his tweet.
“Dear @SMU, there is a story called the boy who cried wolf. You just did that: three times. Question remains, #seekshelter?”
Other students were more outspoken, portraying their annoyance with SMU’s alert system.
“If I followed SMU’s emergency alert, I would have ran for shelter, come out, and ran for shelter about 5 times by now. #mustangidiocy,” @SanjivsSMP tweeted.
SMU released a statement later that day thanking the university community for their patience.
“SMU appreciates the patience of its students, faculty and staff during today’s fast-changing severe weather as emergency personnel worked through technical problems with a new alert system. The emergency preparedness team is reviewing the alert system to identify and address the problems. SMU takes campus safety very seriously and will correct this situation.”
