EMA observing tornado drills at schools

Students line up Friday with books over their heads in a hallway at Hokes Bluff Middle School. The students are supposed to line up along both sides of the hallway facing the wall instead of in a cluster as they are here. The Gadsden/Etowah County Emergency Management Agency supervised the drill and provided feedback to the school.

Buy Photo SARAH DUDIK | GADSDEN TIMES

Published: Friday, January 6, 2012 at 10:50 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, January 6, 2012 at 10:53 p.m.

The students at Hokes Bluff Middle School were orderly and quiet as they made their way from their classrooms to the hallway ? with textbooks in hand.

The students sat in the floor and were instructed by Principal Dena Cook over the public address system to face the wall with the books over their heads.

It was part of monthly tornado drills held at the school, but this month?s drill was a little different.

Officials with the Gadsden/Etowah County Emergency Management Agency monitored the drill ? not as a critique, but as a way to learn and share with other schools, Patrick Huselton, public information officer with the EMA, said.

All school systems in the county already have plans in place for tornadoes, fires and other issues, but the plans can vary from school to school.

Michael Amberson with the EMA said it took three minutes from the time the drill was announced for all students to be in their designated places.

?That is a good response time,? he said.

Amberson said the conduct of the students also was impressive.

?They take it very serious, especially since the April 27 tornadoes,? Cook said.

One of EMA?s concerns is notifying students through the intercom system of a possible tornado if the power is out.

But Cook said the school has a bullhorn and there is enough staff to separate and go to each area if necessary.

Even though students were orderly during the drill, EMA Director Mike Bryant said their reactions will be different if they know it?s not a drill.

Cook said they wanted the EMA to attend the drill. ?We want them to give us any recommendations that they might have,? she said. ?We want to be sure we?re doing everything we can to be as safe as possible.?

It?s important to practice drills at school on a regular basis, Huselton said, so students are confident in what they should do.

Schools usually are one of the safest places to be during severe weather, Huselton said. A lot of effort has gone into creating safety plans and the structures also typically are stronger than a lot of other structures.

?We hope if parents know they?re children are safe, they won?t have a knee-jerk reaction to want to run to the school to pick them up,? Huselton said. ?Being in a car, racing away from a tornado, is one of the most unsafe places you can be.?

He said the EMA plans to attend tornado drills in all schools in the county.

Source: http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20120106/news/120109907

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