Campus installs lightning sensors

By Alisha Brown
Staff Reporter

TCU safety officials have installed sensory devices which may prevent personal injuries caused by lightning or tornadoes.

The recent stormy weather and one-year anniversary of the F-2 twister, which struck downtown Fort Worth, has raised awareness of the need for new safety measures on campus, safety director Randy Cobb said.

He said the safety department finished installing four of five lightning sensors, designed by Thorguard Inc., in January.

“The detector measures the change in the electrical charge in an area, and when a large enough (charge) increase occurs, an alarm is set off,” Cobb said.

A siren and strobe light alert those around the area of the potential for lightning eight to 15 minutes in advance. These type of systems are also used at golf courses, Cobb said. They are designed to increase awareness of severe weather, including that of tornadoes.

Dick Bryan, associate director for the physical plant, said TCU’s campus suffered no damages last year from the storm.

“All of the destruction was downtown,” he said. “We were very lucky.”

But as prevention, Cobb said the lightning sensors could increase alert time for similar storms.

According to the TCU Web site, the four sirens on campus are located at the Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium, Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, the Student Center and the Bass Building. The fifth will be installed at The Leibrock Village apartments when they are completed.

Richard Oliver, assistant director for facilities for residential services, said the warning system could help alert students who are outside before the severe weather approaches.

“It can detect storms out by the soccer fields or over on east campus,” he said. “Or it could detect a storm cell over at Hulen even if the weather is nice on campus.”

Cobb said the sensors, however, do not serve the same purpose as the tornado sirens around Fort Worth.

The way the tornado sirens work is if one goes off in a specific area having bad weather, all the ones across the city go off also, Cobb said. However, the lightning detectors alert individuals only in a specific area.

“They’re not giving false warnings, but it can cause people to become complacent,” he said.

Bryan said the sensors are the only detection device used on campus.

“We do what we can to watch out for the students, but being aware of the news and increasing community awareness is most important,” Oliver said.

Alisha Brown
a.k.brown2@student.tcu.edu