“This is not a drill. Everyone needs to evacuate the building at this time,” west campus building principal Greg Hoyt said.

According to Hoyt, the alarms were set off by a water flow malfunction in the boiler room.

While students patiently waited for further news on whether or not the building was safe to reenter, thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed in the distance. Soon, it began to rain on the students, which sent some to their cars and others under trees in attempt to avoid the rain.

“We went outside because the school wasn’t safe, but then we went outside and it wasn’t safe,” junior Austin Telck said. “It was chaos.”

Afterward students returned to their classes.

“I have no clue [what happened]. I asked a couple teachers and they didn’t know,” senior Julia Evans said.

There was no announcement following the drill. The day continued on normally from that point forward.

“I was really proud,” Hoyt said. “Everybody got out of the building safely,”