Ashley Cielatka didn’t expect to face one of her worst fears when she prepared for the day Monday, Oct. 12.
“If I would have paid closer attention to the weather, I probably wouldn’t have left the library,” said Cielatka, a junior psychology major.
Cielatka left the library to head home when the storm took a turn for the worse.
“I thought I would be safe until the rain let up and that’s when I heard wood cracking. I did try to run out to the crosswalk but it was too late,” Cielatka said.
Cielatka said that her biggest fear is being trapped, and as soon as she realized what had happened she began screaming for help.
“Some men working on Sandel heard me and rushed over. They lifted the boards and helped me out,” Cielatka said.
Soaked and muddy, Cielatka was consumed with concern over her unborn daughter, Madison.
“I dropped to my knees and kept pressing into my stomach trying to get her to move. The men were trying to call 911 but the lines were down,” Cielatka said.
After managing to tell her rescuers that she was pregnant, Cielatka waited as they flagged down a UPD officer.
“ULMPD got in contact with 911 and finally got an ambulance to come. The trip took almost an hour due to traffic, but the paramedics took care of me,” Cielatka said.
Upon reaching the hospital, Cielatka waited until she was hooked up to a fetal monitor.
“I sat for what seemed like the longest two minutes of my life before they found Madi’s heartbeat.,” Cielatka said.
Cielatka said that she was mainly upset that she put herself in a position to be hurt.
“It was nobody’s fault, even I didn’t know it was going to happen. I don’t directly blame anyone,” Cielatka said.
Officer in Charge, Steven Mahon, said that while the University Police are responsible for Warhawk Alert, the tornado formed so quickly that they did not have time to react.
“By the time we received notification from the National Weather Service our power on campus was already out. By the time we reached the backup computer located inside he command vehicle the storm had dissipated,” Mahon said.
Mahon said that the emergency siren on campus was on backup power and the University Police were able to activate it.
