Emergency Status Colors

Understanding emergency color-coded statuses of campus conditions

The campus emergency status reflects conditions that the campus is experiencing or expecting. The levels include:

  • Green for normal operations
  • Yellow for an active emergency that does not affect the overall operations of a campus
  • Orange for incidents causing significant damage or disruption to campus
  • Red for situations that could involve multiple fatalities or severe property damage.

Based on the circumstances, alert notifications will be sent when necessary. Also, conditions other than normal will be posted on the homepage for each campus. The Protect IU website displays the current campus emergency status for each campus at all times.

A more detailed explanation of the status levels can be found below.

A red square with the words "Red Extreme Full Emergency Conditions"

Red

Emergency conditions have seriously impaired or halted campus operations. Multiple casualties or severe property damage may be sustained. Coordination of campus resources may be required to limit further losses and return the campus to normal operations. Full Emergency Operations Center operations is required when campus coordination is needed. The IU community is advised of immediate emergency actions to take.

Examples: large earthquake, catastrophic bombing, tornado warning, warnings requiring sheltering

An orange box with the words "Orange Severe Significant Emergency Conditions"

Orange

Emergency causing significant damage or disrupts overall campus operations for an extended period. May necessitate a change to remote or cancelled classes. The Emergency Operations Center is partially or fully activated. The campus may or may not be the only affected entity. The IU community is advised of actions to take.

Examples: tornado damage, ice storm

A yellow square with the words "yellow, moderate: active emergency conditions" in black.

Yellow

An incident not seriously affecting the overall functional capability of the campus or its resources but emergency conditions do exist. Conditions are localized and the Emergency Operations Center may be partially or fully activated. The IU community is informed of precautions relevant to the condition.

Examples: flooding, chemical spill, severe snow storm

A green square that says "Green: Normal daily operations."

Green

Monitoring of potential hazards is ongoing. Normal operations are ongoing.

Examples: normal business hours