Review This Morning
April 2, 2024
Good morning. Please review our tornado procedures with students this morning in your first period class. We want to be prepared & help lead our students into safe areas of our building if needed.
Before a Tornado
- Know the signs of a tornado. Be alert to changing weather conditions. Look for the following danger signs:
- Dark, often greenish sky
- Large hail
- A large, dark, low-lying cloud (particularly, if rotating)
- Loud roar, similar to a freight train
- If you see approaching storms or any of the danger signs, be prepared to take shelter immediately
- Know the difference between a Tornado Watch and a Tornado Warning.
- Tornado Watch means a tornado is possible. Stay tuned to your local radio station or television for weather updates. Know where you’ll shelter, if necessary.
- Tornado Warning means a tornado is happening or imminent. Take shelter immediately.
- Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or to your local radio or television stations for the latest weather and safety information. In any emergency, always listen to the instructions given by local emergency management officials.
- If you are a person with special needs, register your name and address with your local emergency management agency, police and fire departments before any natural or man-made disaster.
- NOAA Weather Radio has available an alerting tool for people who are deaf or have hearing impairments. Some weather radio receivers can be connected to an existing home security system, much the same as a doorbell, smoke detector or other sensor. NOAA Weather Radio and other alerts for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Move to an underground shelter, basement or safe room. If none is available, a small, windowless interior room or hallway on the lowest level of a sturdy building is the safest alternative.
- Take additional cover by shielding your head and neck with your arms and putting materials such as furniture and blankets around you.
- Remember: No area of a mobile home is safe during a tornado. If you have access to a sturdy shelter or vehicle, go there immediately, using your seatbelt if driving.
- Be aware of emergency shelter plans in stores, offices and schools. If no specific shelter has been identified, move to the building's lowest level. Try to avoid areas with large glass windows, large rooms and wide-span roofs such as auditoriums, cafeterias, large hallways or shopping malls.
During a Tornado
- If you're outside or in a mobile home, find shelter immediately by going to the lowest level of a nearby sturdy building or to a pre-designated area, such as a safe room. Safe rooms and sturdy buildings are the safest structures to be in when tornadoes threaten. Mobile or manufactured homes, even if tied down, do not offer protection from tornadoes.
- If you cannot quickly get to a shelter, get into your vehicle, buckle your seatbelt and try to drive to the nearest sturdy shelter or pre-designated safe room.
- If you experience flying debris while driving, pull over and park. Choose to either stay in your vehicle, stay buckled up, duck down below the windows and cover your head with your hands. Or find a depression or ditch, exit your vehicle, kneel or lie face-down in the depression, and use your arms and hands to protect your head.
- Never seek shelter under highway overpasses and bridges. You are safer in a low, flat location.
- Never try to out-drive a tornado in urban or congested areas. Instead, leave the vehicle immediately for protection in a sturdy building.
- Outdoor areas are not protection from flying debris. Flying debris from tornadoes causes most fatalities and injuries.
After a Tornado
- If you are trapped, do not move about or kick up dust. Tap on a pipe or wall or use a whistle, if you have one, so that rescuers can locate you.
- Keep listening to EAS, NOAA Weather Radio, and local officials for updates and instructions.
- Check-in with family, friends and neighbors by texting or using social media. Save calling on the phone for emergencies. Dial 911 for life-threatening or serious emergencies.
- Watch out for debris and downed power lines.
- Stay out of damaged buildings and homes until local authorities indicate it is safe.
- Use extreme caution during post-disaster clean-up of buildings and around debris. Do not attempt to remove heavy debris by yourself.
- Photograph the damage to your property in order to assist in filing an insurance claim.
- Do what you can to prevent further damage to your property (e.g., putting a tarp on a damaged roof), as insurance may not cover additional damage that occurs after the storm.
- If your home is without power, use flashlights or battery-powered lanterns, rather than candles, to prevent accidental fires.
Michael Kuri
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