In Tornado alley

[luvmyfam444]

what do the elem schools have for safety from a tornado? Is there some sort of bunker?

As a mom I don't think I could ever let my kids go to school and as a teacher I'd be a nervous wreck the entire season!

 

[princesslynn]

what do the elem schools have for safety from a tornado? Is there some sort of bunker?

As a mom I don't think I could ever let my kids go to school and as a teacher I'd be a nervous wreck the entire season!

I live in Wichita, KS (smack dab in the middle of Tornado Alley) and have worked for the public schools here for nearly 12 years. In recent years our school district has been VERY proactive in making sure all of our 100+ buildings are equipped with structures that we call “Safe Rooms”. FEMA provided grant money to our school district to help with the construction of the rooms and as of right now I believe close to all of our buildings have an adequate “Safe Room” large enough to hold all of our students.

Our building’s Safe Room doubles as a gym, it has no windows, thick cinderblock walls and the doors are heavy duty and include steel rods that go up and down out of the top and bottom of the door to help keep the doors shut in case of a violent storm. The Safe Rooms are constructed according to the standards set forth by FEMA. As a school we practice “Tornado Drills” the same way we do Fire Drills ; students practice lining up and moving quickly to the Safe Room.

Before Safe Rooms, and in buildings where they may not be a Safe Room, the protocol is to have students move to the center hallways, away from exterior walls. We’d have students sit down and tuck and cover their heads with their hands. As a parent myself, I feel much better knowing my kids are in schools more structurally sound and better prepared for storms than relying on interior hallways.

I’ve been in several different schools when the sirens have sounded—and I can honestly say that while scary, it’s also something that most of our students are “used” to. I’ve had to shelter in hallways as well as in the more secured Safe Room. I am always proud of my fellow staff members as it can be difficult herding hundreds of children with the thread of powerful storms just outside your windows. In every instance our staff has acted not only calmly, but with compassion helping to quiet fears and dry tears. Thankfully, we have never had to face the situation that Moore has had to face, and my heart and prayers go out to all of those affected.

 

[bettymae1121]

I'm in Northeast IL (on the edge of Tornado Alley) and schools here do not have basements, storm cellars or safe rooms. Students and staff shelter in interior hallways, and "duck and cover" along the walls of the hallway. We have drills in fall and spring the way you have fire drills. Tornados here are not as common as they are further west but common enough that it's a real concern.

 

[amryn21]

I'm in Northeast IL (on the edge of Tornado Alley) and schools here do not have basements, storm cellars or safe rooms. Students and staff shelter in interior hallways, and "duck and cover" along the walls of the hallway. We have drills in fall and spring the way you have fire drills. Tornados here are not as common as they are further west but common enough that it's a real concern.

I live in Alabama and this is what we do too. The schoolsystems usually close all day or let out early when it is going to be severe weather.

 

[mrsklamc]

I grew up in Nebraska and went to college in Kansas. In 25 years, I experienced 3-5 tornado warnings and took shelter during each. (Of course, tornado warning had a different criteria then so you would experience them more often now.) In my entire life, I've actually SEEN just one tornado, and it did some major damage to a roof, but that was it. So we all know what to DO in case of a tornado, but the reality is you are pretty unlikely to be hit by one.

Our elementary had the same 'duck and cover' procedure which was pretty dumb in retrospect because the 7th and 8th graders did it right across from large glass windows into the library (that small school is shut down now anyway.) The high school did have a basement area.

Really, doesn't everywhere have some risk of something? Alligators, rattlesnakes, earthquakes, hurricanes...something.

 

[packofjedis]

I saw an interview with the mayor of Moore, OK this morning on CNN. He said schools there don't have safe rooms or storms shelters. He said the reason was cost. Buildings and schools after the last bad tornado that have been rebuilt do now have them. But they didn't add them to current buildings.

 

[luvmyfam444]

I was @ the school earlier this year when we were under a warning. We just went to the hallway....it was interior...but @ the end of the hall is a glass door & in the center where all halls meet, skylights. Just didn't seem totally safe.

When I was a kid you faced the wall & covered your head with no talking.
The kids @ dd's school just sat with their back against the wall with a book to read! and teachers were calling kids to continue with their timed reading they were working on previously.

My other dd said for their drill the go in the hallway up against the lockers

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Hallway in the lowest/sturdiest part of the building, facing the wall, hands over heads on our hands and knees. I always felt like we were preparing to kiss our butts goodbye.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Community Elementary Schools OFTEN have 700 students or more (plus staff).

Many High Schools now are like small community colleges, with, for example 1000-2000 students.

It really is not realistic that there could be bunkers for this many people.

TORNADOS SUCK!!!!!

 

[Wishing on a star]

I live in Alabama and this is what we do too. The schoolsystems usually close all day or let out early when it is going to be severe weather.

I believe that I have heard of that here, as well.

When there are these huge, dangerous, CELLS... Scary!!!!

 

[luvmyfam444]

yes, our k-3 school is 1,000 kids. Our gym can hold that many. We have been let out before when we knew there was severe weather coming. I think only 1 time though. Typically its safer to keep the kids in school instead of on the road.

 

[DopeyDame]

I
The kids @ dd's school just sat with their back against the wall with a book to read! and teachers were calling kids to continue with their timed reading they were working on previously.

:

I imagine the teachers did that to try and keep the kids calm and engaged and keep their minds off the storm.

 

[mrsklamc]

I imagine the teachers did that to try and keep the kids calm and engaged and keep their minds off the storm.

It was a drill. Which taught them not to take the protocols seriously, and is probably illegal.

 

[tennvalgirl]

I saw an interview with the mayor of Moore, OK this morning on CNN. He said schools there don't have safe rooms or storms shelters. He said the reason was cost. Buildings and schools after the last bad tornado that have been rebuilt do now have them. But they didn't add them to current buildings.

This. Something really bad has to happen like it did in Alabama on April 27, 2011 before you can get government money for Community Shelters.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I grew up in Nebraska and went to college in Kansas. In 25 years, I experienced 3-5 tornado warnings and took shelter during each. (Of course, tornado warning had a different criteria then so you would experience them more often now.) In my entire life, I've actually SEEN just one tornado, and it did some major damage to a roof, but that was it. So we all know what to DO in case of a tornado, but the reality is you are pretty unlikely to be hit by one.

Our elementary had the same 'duck and cover' procedure which was pretty dumb in retrospect because the 7th and 8th graders did it right across from large glass windows into the library (that small school is shut down now anyway.) The high school did have a basement area.

Really, doesn't everywhere have some risk of something? Alligators, rattlesnakes, earthquakes, hurricanes...something.

Funny you would say this. My husband and I were just talking about this last night. Why would ANYONE choose to live in an area KNOWN for tornado activity? We discussed many reasons to live there, and many reasons why we would never, ever live there.

And yet, we willingly live in earthquake town. I think that MAYBE it is because earthquakes happen here every single day. There isn't a known area for repeated earthquakes. The news showed maps with colored-in paths of past tornadoes and they overlapped! Egads!

 

[Jamby001]

We don't generally have shelters. Kids huddle under stairwells. Not ideal by any means.

 

[JayhawkMomma]

Our school (in a suburb of Kansas City) put the kids in the library. It's the dead center of the school with no windows. There is no basement or cellar for the kids to go into. They go in there and do the old duck and cover just like I did as a kid growing up here. Their school is only 5 years old.

I've lived here my entire life and I've seen only one tornado. I've been in the basement quite a few times but it's pretty rare. Honestly, I'd rather live with the tornado threat than earthquakes. At least we get some sort of warning. Even if the sirens don't go off, if you've lived around here long enough you can tell when it's time to get inside just by looking at the sky.

 

[Minnesota!]

The school my kids go to has a basement, however each class goes to a different spot in the school. Kindergarteners go to "the band room" which is a room in the middle of the lunch room. My 3rd grader goes to the basement of the school...down a good 2 levels underground. It's all about what is most accessible from each classroom. When I went to school there, we hoofed it over to the church and went into the basement there.

Tornado drills in schools around here are done just as are fire drills. I guess I never realized that wasn't common across the country. Hmm.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I live in Alabama and this is what we do too. The schoolsystems usually close all day or let out early when it is going to be severe weather.

I grew up in Alabama, this is what we did. I've been through several, never had a direct hit. I'm more scared of tornadoes in Central Florida because there are no tornado sirens or basements here!

 

[MrsDrewsky]

I grew up in Oklahoma, and my husband and I returned here in 2011.

I think at the very least some sort of bicycle helmet or head protection should be provided for the students. The news coverage here has shown multiple children stating they were having to cover their heads with their hands when bricks and other debris were flying around. I understand it can be expensive to add a shelter, but to be told to cover their head with their hands doesn't seem adequate to me.