Satire: Breaking: Panic Shortly Arises as IMG Community Rushes to Safety

November 11th, 2020; Students and faculty sit in utter panic as freak hurricane-tornado approaches.

Wednesday afternoon, November 11th, around 12:03 PM, backpacks, phones, and belongings were left in classrooms and buildings across campus. Lined up by the walls, students and teachers on all floors of the academic building sat in shelter anticipating further warnings and updates regarding Tropical Storm Teta. 

The storm, with 70 MPH winds, was predicted to hit Tampa Bay, striking past the Bradenton/Sarasota Area. The storm's arrival in Bradenton, warranted warning for brief tornado, thunderstorm, and flash flood warnings. It was the tornado warning that was cause for worry in a number of students. 

As the community knows well, the IMG administration takes weather safety quite seriously.

In the events of thunderstorms, hurricane, or tornado warnings, the entire campus is always put on immediate weather safety until further notice. Students are not to travel between buildings, or go outside. On the administration's handling of the situation, IMG Academy senior Sydney Park commented, “The administration is taking the right protocol to address the storm and I’m feeling relatively safe and I think we’ll be out of here shortly.”

Across IMG academic building floors, students stemming from all across the world sit by the walls. As climate differs throughout the world, some seemed more phased than others. IMG Academy senior and soccer player Guagui Vallejos comments, “I have been in a tornado warning before and I don’t really think anything of it. Usually nothing’s happening so I’m fine.” Meanwhile students like Evan DeVine of Huntsville, Alabama have had more frightful encounters with tornadoes, commenting, “last time I felt pretty stressed out because it was a direct hit from a tornado and went directly through my hometown, but right now it’s a decently glancing blow so I’m not too worried about it.” 

When approached for faculty input, AP Literature instructor Mr. Pottieger refused to comment, claiming, “very few people have access to me.”

Update: At around 1:10 pm, students and faculty were released from weather safety and permitted to go eat lunch.