Possible weekend storm/Siren test
Dear William & Mary community –
The Emergency Management Team would like to bring two items to your attention.
- The National Weather Service is tracking the potential for snow in the Williamsburg area Saturday night into Sunday morning. Williamsburg appears to be on the bubble between snow and rain along with some uncertainty about the temperatures in the area. More below.
- In addition to Wednesday being the first day of in-person classes for the semester, the university will also be conducting a test of its emergency notification system. That test will occur at 12:15 p.m.More below, including a link if you are not signed up for Rave/TribeAlert messages.
Deb Cheesebro, EMT co-chair
William & Mary
Weekend Weather
The current National Weather Service forecast is for a wintry mix of precipitation for the Williamsburg area Saturday into Sunday with less than an inch of snow accumulation. The mix could cause slippery conditions on sidewalks and steps, especially. Please use caution if you have to drive and/or are out walking on campus.
For those on campus or arriving to campus Sunday, facilities management personnel are preparing and pre-treating areas and will be clearing and/or de-icing Sunday morning as necessary. Please use the cleared and treated pathways. If you see an area that is a safety concern please contact WMPD dispatch at 757.221.4596.
Temperatures are predicted to hover around freezing into Monday, so please continue to use caution. We don’t expect any schedule changes. If we do need to make additional updates they will continue to be communicated through the university's mass notification system. Local media, as well as the W&M News Facebook and Twitter pages - http://www.facebook.com/wmnews and http://www.twitter.com/WMNews - will also be sources for updates.
If you need local bus transit please call the Williamsburg Area Transit Authority's (WATA) weather line at 757-220-5493 and press option 1, or visit http://www.gowata.org/ for the latest scheduling information.
Emergency Management System Test Feb. 10 at 12:15 p.m.
William & Mary broadcasts its emergency notifications using RAVE in the cases of a campus-wide emergency, a natural disaster, or for inclement weather closings. This system provides the flexibility to communicate via email and text (“TribeAlert”) and, for the most urgent situations, through the emergency sirens on campus and Alertus on your computer. All of these methods will be tested Wednesday.
The system includes three 120-decibel sirens stationed above the Integrated Science Center, William & Mary Law School on South Henry Street and the School of Education building off Monticello Avenue. In the event of a real emergency, people in the community who hear the siren may check for information and instructions at www.wm.edu.
To ensure that you receive these alert messages, your personal mobile number should be the first number listed in Banner. Alerts are sent to that number first. Please do not duplicate numbers. All members of the William & Mary community should annually review the information they have submitted for emergency notifications in Banner.
If you are new to the campus and have not yet enrolled in the mass notification system, you may do so through the personal information tab in Banner.
You may also receive emergency messages by following the W&M News Facebook and W&M News Twitter pages as well as the free W&M mobile app.