Street Interviews: Thoughts on the recent weather

By Emily Beebe, Opinion Columnist|April 6, 2023

DeKALB – In the past week, DeKalb has had storm warnings along with tornado warnings. DeKalb had some heavy rain along with some thunder and lightning throughout the last week, causing some classes to get canceled.

DeKalb also had some tornado warnings that caused the tornado sirens to go off. Students were encouraged to take shelter, in the event that a tornado touched down on campus.

NIU students gave their thoughts on the recent storms that occurred in DeKalb.

John Alcalde Jr., a sophomore sociology major, standing in the Holmes Student Center (Emily Beebe | Northern Star)

John Alcade Jr.

How do you feel about the recent storms?

Answer: “I mean like, I’m from Illinois so I’m not that unaccustomed to like these kind of storms. It’s more storms than normal, which is kind of concerning, but not too much more than normal which is not very concerning.”

What is your initial response when you hear about a possible tornado and/or tornado sirens?

Answer: “It’s important to follow the drill. If it says there’s a warning, then you go into a building, preferably the lowest level and just wait it out until the warning is over, so that’s my response to it.”

How do you prepare for severe weather events such as tornadoes or thunderstorms?

Answer: “I live off campus and I’m lucky my house has a basement, so what I do is just go to the basement and I have a few things in the basement like a radio that can be powered on in case the power goes out.”

Megan Rault

How do you feel about the recent storms?

Answer: “I lived in Wisconsin like the majority of my life, up until I moved to Illinois so I know storms. I’m that person that stands on their porch looking at when the tornado is going to hit. I’m a Midwest dad type vibe. I thought it was a little crazy when I took my dogs for a walk because I thought they were going to fly away, but they are ok. It was kind of an inconvenience when the alert went off at 6 a.m. because the other music students did not want to be up at that time.”

What is your initial response when you hear about a possible tornado and/or tornado sirens?

Answer: “Usually I go and try to look at the sky to try to find the funnel and there’s never any funnels, so I stand out in the rain trying to look.”

How do you prepare for severe weather events such as tornadoes or thunderstorms?

Answer: “I usually turn down the heat and go to the basement if I need to, but usually I just put my cat in the basement and then I’m good to go.”

Sandy Ied

How do you feel about the recent storms?

Answer: “To be honest, I’m a big scaredy cat, so I was all freaked out. I actually tried waking up yesterday morning to go to the gym and we got the tornado warning so that kind of was a buzzkill. I didn’t know that a twister, well it wasn’t actually a tornado crossed over the stadium and that freaked me out. My boss told me when I came in to work that NIU was on the news.”

What is your initial response when you hear about a possible tornado and/or tornado sirens?

Answer: “I get terrified and I just freak out. I’m not the type to be like oh my god we need to go to the basement, but I’ll just wait it out. Other than that I just feel like I’m a huge scaredy cat.”

How do you prepare for severe weather events such as tornadoes or thunderstorms?

Answer: “I make sure that I’m not going to be driving anywhere and if I were driving and the tornado siren went off or something, I would definitely try to get home as soon as possible, so I’m not stuck in a storm or a tornado.”

About the Contributors

Emily Beebe, Assistant Opinion Editor

Emily Beebe is a senior from LaSalle, Illinois, majoring in English and triple minoring in history, journalism and political science. Aside from the Star, she is involved with Kesem and Penguin Players. In her free time, Emily enjoys reading books, catching up on sleep and stanning Taylor Swift's relationship with Travis Kelce.

Tim Dodge, Former Social Media Manager

Tim Dodge is a senior journalism major and a sports journalism minor at NIU. He began as a photographer in the spring of 2023 and became the senior photojournalist in the spring of 2024. Tim enjoys photographing sporting events, playing golf, video games and is a fan of the Chicago Bears, Bulls, White Sox, and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Opinion