Tuesday afternoon’s sudden and brief sheeting hail and tornado threats forced several students to seek shelter—and fast.

Students in the Holmes Student Center were gathered in the lower levels while those outside ran to the nearest building on campus.

Most students who took cover in the student center were calm even though they were trapped by the weather for about 15 minutes. Student center officials directed the students to the lower levels after hearing weather announcements of a tornado warning for DeKalb.

“I had never been in a crisis situation like this before. Part of me wants to see what’s happening outside, but the other part wants to remain safe,” Student Association Vice President Tanya Smith said.

Scarlett Tabor, a graduate communications major said during the alert, “I wish they would give us more information, like where was it spotted, and when, the direction of travel and possibly how long will we have to be waiting here.”

One student said he was not scared, but he was “kind of bored and hungry.” Another student said that it was “just a fact of nature you have to deal with.”

Huskie Den Supervisor Linda Ellison said, “I think the students handled it well with good cooperation. I was a little scared, even though I don’t think a tornado can touch down here.”