Tornado Safety Measures at Schools
Schoolchildren Need Knowledge, Storm Warning Drills
What should children know when a tornado threatens and what safety measures should the school be taking? Plus a list of the top 10 worst school tornado-related disasters.
A tornado can threaten any place at any time. Even places of the country usually believed "immune" to tornadoes or times of year in which tornadoes are infrequent are not free from the possibility of a deadly tornado. What do children and schools need to do to keep everyone safe from harm?
The Responsibility of Schools
Schools hold regular tornado drills every year. While early spring is the most common time for these drills to occur, they should also be practiced at the beginning of every school year. Fall and winter are not peak times for tornadoes, but that doesn't mean they can't occur. In January 2008, southeastern Wisconsin was raked with tornadoes just as school was letting out for the end of the day. That may not seem like the time of year or location for a destructive tornado, but nature is not as predictable as we would like.
While at one time children were instructed to open classroom windows when a tornado warning was issued, that is now understood to be a dangerous waste of time. If a tornado warning is issued, children are to leave rooms with windows (most classrooms) and rooms with high ceilings (most cafeterias and gymnasiums) and seek shelter with their class in hallways and bathrooms. The same theory of putting as many walls between you and the tornado is as valid here as it is in a home.
Once in a safe location, children should crouch down to make their bodies a smaller target for flying debris. They should also put their hands over their heads for the same reason. They must remain in this position until the warning is over and an all-clear has sounded. Teachers then need to take a head count of their students in the shelter and once they have returned to their classrooms.
Parents should ask their kids if they have practiced tornado drills at school and review with them what they are supposed to do if a tornado warning is issued.
Receiving a Tornado Warning
A tornado warning can come into a school in many ways. Some small towns will have a weather spotter network that alerts the authorities of an impending tornado and the authorities then alert the schools. On stormy days, schools will monitor weather reports on their own over the computer, television, and radio. A tornado siren positioned near a school is not a guarantee that the people inside will hear it, especially during a raucous game in the gym or a noisy lunch hour. The best bet is for a school to have a NOAA weather radio on at all times in the office. As soon as a warning is issued an alarm will sound, alerting the staff that action must be taken. Check with your school to see if they have one and if not, consider purchasing one for your school. They are inexpensive life-savers.
The Top 10 Worst Tornado Strikes on Schools in the US
The Tornado Project keeps track of various tornado statistics, including that of tornado-related disasters that have occurred at schools. The top two of the worst tornado disasters at school were caused by the same F-5 tornado called the Great Tri-state Tornado in 1925. The most recent top 10 incident occurred in 1967. With a bit of luck and a lot of common-sense preparation, we can keep it that way.
- An F-5 tornado hit a DeSoto, Illinois, school on March 18, 1925, killing 33.
- An F-5 tornado hit a Murphrysboro, Illinois, school on March 18, 1925, killing 25.
- An F-3 tornado hit a Commerce Landing, Mississippi school on February 1, 1955, killing 17.
- An F-3 tornado hit a Vireton, Oklahoma, school on January 4, 1926, killing 16.
- An F-3 tornado hit a La Plata, Maryland, school on November 9, 1926, killing 14.
- An F-4 tornado hit a Belvidere, Illinois, school on April 21, 1967, killing 13.
- An F-2 tornado hit a Rye Cove, Virginia, school on May 2, 1929, killing 13.
- An F-2 tornado hit an Arlington, Georgia, school on March 22, 1897, killing 8.
- An F-3 tornado hit a Dothan, Alabama, school on January 11, 1918, killing 8.
- An F-4 tornado hit a Paw Paw, Illinois, school on June 20, 1890, killing 7.
Some observations about the above statistics: many of these deadly tornadoes occurred in winter months, including January, February, and March, when tornadoes are not expected. Also, residents of La Plata, Maryland, were hit by a tornado in April of 2002, taking many people by surprise that a deadly F-4 could happen so far East. But in fact La Plata was already home to one of the deadliest school tornadoes in history.
