Tornado Safety Rules For Schools

Several times in recent years, schools have been hit by tornadoes. Fortunately, in most cases classes were not in session. In some other cases, where students were present, school officials familiar with tornado safety took prompt action to safeguard the students before the twisters hit.

The North Carolina Emergency Management Division and the National Weather Service (NWS) urge all schools to develop plans and conduct drills to cope with tornadoes. Tornado drills require different actions from fire drills. Here are some items to consider:

• Remember that the NWS issues a tornado WATCH when the
  possibility of tornadoes exists; and a tornado WARNING when a
  tornado has been sighted or indicated on radar. Remember:
  tornadoes can form suddenly, and there may not be time for a
  Tornado Warning before a twister strikes. Teachers and
  students should know the difference between a Watch and a
  Warning.
• School officials at the state and county level should have a
  plan for rapid dissemination of tornado Watches and Warnings
  to every school in the system either by radio or telephone.
• Each school should be inspected and tornado shelter areas
  designated. Schools with basements should use these as
  shelters. Schools without basements should use ground floor
  interior hallways that are not parallel to the tornado's path,
  which is usually from the southwest. Never use gymnasiums,
  auditoriums or other rooms with wide, free-span roofs. Teachers
  and students should know their designated shelter areas.
• School administrators should establish procedures governing use
  or non-use of school buses during tornado Watches and
  Warnings. Generally speaking, school buses should continue
  operating during tornado Watches, but not during tornado
  Warnings. School buses are easily rolled by tornado winds.
• During a tornado Watch, specific teachers or other school staff
  members should be designated to monitor commercial radio or
  TV for tornado Warnings, even if the school has a NOAA
  Weather Radio tone-alert system. Weather spotters also should
  keep on eye on the sky for dark, rolling clouds, hail, driving rain,
  or a sudden increase in wind, in addition to the telltale funnel.
  Tornadoes are often obscured by precipitation, nearby trees, or
  darkness. Other public agencies also report tornado sightings.
• A special alarm system should be designated to indicate a
  tornado has been sighted and is approaching. A backup alarm
  system should be planned for use if electrical power fails,
  perhaps a battery-powered bullhorn, an inexpensive
  hand-cranked siren, or even an old-fashioned hand-swung bell.

Specific teachers should be assigned to round up children on playgrounds or other outdoor areas during a tornado Warning. Otherwise, they might be overlooked.

• Children in schoolrooms of weak construction such as portable
  or temporary classrooms should be escorted to sturdier
  buildings or to predetermined ditches, culverts, or ravines, and
  instructed to lie face down, hands over head. Most tornado
  deaths are caused by head injuries.
• When children are assembled in school basements or interior
  hallways during a tornado drill or Warning when the danger is
  imminent, they should be instructed to respond to a specific
  command to assume protective posture, facing interior walls.
  Such commands might be "Everybody down! Crouch on elbows
  and knees! Hands over back of head!" It is essential that these
  commands be instantly understood and obeyed. Illustrations
  showing the protective position should be posted on a bulletin
  board in each classroom.
• If a school bus is caught in the open when a tornado is
  approaching, the children should be escorted to a nearby ditch
  or ravine and instructed to lie face down, hands over head.
  They should be far enough away so the bus cannot topple on
  them. School-bus drivers should be regularly drilled in tornado
  procedures.
• School district officials planning new buildings or additions
  should keep tornadoes in mind when setting construction
  standards.

North Carolina Emergency Management
Education & Emergency Information Section
Feb. 2002