appendix h
APPENDIX H - SEVERE
WEATHER SAFETY PLAN CHECKLIST
Use the following
checklist for the evaluation or design of a severe weather safety plan for your
school. The plan should be designed so that teachers and students anywhere on
the school grounds can be quickly alerted and follow a preset plan of action
to maximize safety.
1. Who is responsible
for activating the plan? Is there a back-up?
2. What is/are the
primary means of receiving severe weather information? NOAA Weather Radio with
an alert feature is recommended (found in electronic stores costing about $30
to $80).
3. What method do
you employ to alert teachers and students? Is there a back-up that does not
require electricity? (Electricity may be lost as the storm approaches.)
4. Make provisions
for the following problem areas:
- Students that
are in mobile classrooms that may be far from the main building and that may
be disconnected from an intercom system.
- Students that
may be in the cafeteria or gymnasium during the storm.
- Learning-disabled
students, or any other students who may be in a position to not hear the warning
or alert or be able to respond on their own accord. Assign a teacher to each
student who needs special attention (such as a student in a wheelchair or
one who is hearing-impaired) who will ensure that the student arrives at a
place of safety.
- Students who are
outside, including after-school activities. Remember, if you are close enough
to hear thunder, then you are close enough to be struck by lightning. Also,
students who are outside are at risk from the dangers of large hail and severe
thunderstorm winds.
5. Five main problems
for schools in a tornado:
- Forces caused
by winds and the airflow around the building.
- Forces caused
by other objects (debris) impacting school walls.
- Pressure differences
caused by a tornado.
- Gas leaks and
electrical hazards after the storm. Have someone knowledgeable in turning
off gas and electricity at the school during school hours.
- "Wind Tunnel
Effect" - When blown by tornado-strength winds, debris (such as fragments
of glass, wood, and metal) can cause serious injury when accelerated by relatively
narrow hallways in schools.
6. Other thunderstorm
hazards: Are you prepared?
- Lightning may
pose a threat well before strong winds/rain affect the area. Athletic teams
out on open fields need to be especially cautious.
- Large hail - the
largest hail usually occurs near the most dangerous area of the storm for
the development of tornadoes. Large hail can break windows.
- Heavy rains/flooding
- Are there flood-prone areas near the school?
- Damaging "straight-line"
winds - A thunderstorm does not have to produce a tornado to pose a threat
to schools and students.
7. Safest places
to be in a school: (assuming no underground shelter)
- Interior hallway
on the lowest level.
- Away from windows.
- If possible, get
in a hallway that is at a right angle to the approaching tornado's path (to
avoid the wind tunnel effect).
- In a small room,
such as a bathroom, surrounded by load-bearing walls.
- In a room without
small objects that can serve as projectiles (such as tableware).
8. Some other aspects
of designing a plan:
- Practice your
plan. Have drills semi-annually (Fall and Spring).
- Include Severe
Weather Safety Instruction as part of the drill period.
- Encourage teachers
and administrators to develop a plan for their families at home. The knowledge
that their families know what to do at home will enable them to focus their
attention on the students. The American Red Cross has brochures on developing
a "Family Protection Plan."
- Educate school
administrators about the structure of severe thunderstorms and the basic sequence
of events as a storm approaches. Also explain the concepts of wall clouds,
rotating wall clouds, and the preferred locations for these features within
the storm. (It is recommended that they attend the NWS SKYWARNTM severe spotter
training class - no fee.) Emphasize the variability that may exist with each
storm and the need to understand basic storm structure to assist in determining
the degree of threat at a school.
- For optimum planning
purposes, an engineer and a member of the local school board should participate
in the design of an emergency plan.
- Encourage administrators
to contact the nearest National Weather Service or County/State Emergency
Services Coordinator for assistance in answering ANY questions that may arise
in developing a plan.
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