Henryville, IN
Thousands of workers and volunteers are rebuilding southern Indiana towns devastated by the March 2nd tornadoes. But, a new problem is emerging, one that can’t be fixed with a hammer and nails.
Tornado victims are working through the process of grieving
what’s been lost. Project Aftermath crisis counselor Carolyn King says,
“I think some of them are getting to the angry stage. They’re
frustrated that this is taking so long, they don’t see things being
rebuilt as fast, they’re realizing that things aren’t going to be normal
again.”
King says the long term effects of this storm are just now emerging and some people are doing more than grieving, they’re suffering from post traumatic stress. “If people just keep talking about it over and over, some of that is therapeutic,” she says, “But, if they’re obsessed with it and they really can’t talk about anything else, then that’s a problem.”
School Safety Shield
Non en Meus Vigilo!
Showing posts with label Henryville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Henryville. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Henryville Students Celebrate Prom 8 Weeks after Tornado
Henryville, IN
Friday is prom night for students at Henryville High School, nearly two months after tornadoes destroyed the school.
The students will celebrate the Junior/Senior Prom at Kye’s in Jeffersonville beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Hundreds of prom dresses and vouchers for tuxedos were donated to the students to help them prepare for the prom.
About 275 students and 50 staff are expected to attend the event.
The after-prom festivities, hosted by the PTA, were set to be held in the school's gymnasium, but the Robert E. Lee Sternwheeler Hall has offered to host the event at no cost to the school.
Friday is prom night for students at Henryville High School, nearly two months after tornadoes destroyed the school.
The students will celebrate the Junior/Senior Prom at Kye’s in Jeffersonville beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Hundreds of prom dresses and vouchers for tuxedos were donated to the students to help them prepare for the prom.
About 275 students and 50 staff are expected to attend the event.
The after-prom festivities, hosted by the PTA, were set to be held in the school's gymnasium, but the Robert E. Lee Sternwheeler Hall has offered to host the event at no cost to the school.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Severe Weather Preparedness Week
April 22-28 is National Severe Weather Preparedness Week.
April 22-28 is Severe Weather Preparedness Week and it's a perfect time to think about the coming warm months and the unpredictable weather. In southern Illinois, tornadoes have already caused damage and killed eight people during February and March.
April 22-28 is Severe Weather Preparedness Week and it's a perfect time to think about the coming warm months and the unpredictable weather. In southern Illinois, tornadoes have already caused damage and killed eight people during February and March.
Take this week to go over your emergency preparedness plan for severe weather. According to FEMA's ready.gov
website, this is the perfect time to make plans about where and how to
take shelter in the event of a tornado or other severe weather.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Another Voice in the 'Stay or Go' Discussion
From the heart of Tornado Alley Jim Burkey, Oklahoma City Public Schools Chief Operations Officer, weighs in on the important discussion I raised earlier.
No plan is set in concrete, but schools are often the sturdiest structures on a community.
Regardless, it is necessary to have a plan in place, exercise it, correct the problems, then follow it when an incident occurs.
No plan is set in concrete, but schools are often the sturdiest structures on a community.
Regardless, it is necessary to have a plan in place, exercise it, correct the problems, then follow it when an incident occurs.
Friday, March 30, 2012
A Sheepdog in Henryville
Angel Perry is definitely a Sheepdog! In a very chaotic, dangerous situation she kept her calm, made the right decisions, and got her kids to safety.
That is Angel's calm voice on the radio, conversing with dispatch, and talking to her kids. She calmly gets them ready for getting into the building when they get there, knowing she will not have much time, and counts them as they get off the bus, making sure she left no one behind. The video shows her bus then being picked up, and being thrown a couple of hundred feet away into a restaurant.
A friend of mine, Michael Dorn, had this to say on his blog, " I have heard more than a couple of well trained law enforcement officers who got more excited on the radio during an emergency than this driver sounded (including perhaps even myself on a few occasions)."
Angel's ability to remain calm, and to think clearly under life or death stress, is no small feat. One of the hardest things in the world to do is drive a school bus safely while keeping an eye on your charges. Throw in an EF4 tornado with 175+mph winds bearing right down on you, and you have a true hero.
Well done, Sheepdog, well done!
That is Angel's calm voice on the radio, conversing with dispatch, and talking to her kids. She calmly gets them ready for getting into the building when they get there, knowing she will not have much time, and counts them as they get off the bus, making sure she left no one behind. The video shows her bus then being picked up, and being thrown a couple of hundred feet away into a restaurant.
A friend of mine, Michael Dorn, had this to say on his blog, " I have heard more than a couple of well trained law enforcement officers who got more excited on the radio during an emergency than this driver sounded (including perhaps even myself on a few occasions)."
Angel's ability to remain calm, and to think clearly under life or death stress, is no small feat. One of the hardest things in the world to do is drive a school bus safely while keeping an eye on your charges. Throw in an EF4 tornado with 175+mph winds bearing right down on you, and you have a true hero.
Well done, Sheepdog, well done!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
School Bus Fleet Magazine
I made the top story in this week's edition of School Bus Fleet Magazine. Kelly Roher wrote the article, and she did a great job, if I do say so myself.
http://www.schoolbusfleet.com/Channel/Management-Training/News/2012/03/28/Ind-district-increases-safety-measures-after-tornado.aspx
http://www.schoolbusfleet.com/Channel/Management-Training/News/2012/03/28/Ind-district-increases-safety-measures-after-tornado.aspx
Friday, March 16, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
The Problem
Last Friday, administrators in Henryville, IN, released students from school early to get them home before the storm. Several buses were caught by the storm, with driver needing to get their kids inside before the tornado struck. One driver knew they wouldn't make it, and returned to the school. Everyone on the bus got inside the school right before the tornado struck. The bus ended up a couple of hundred feet away, across the highway, in a brick building.
Reportedly in New Castle, IN, similar action was taken by school administrators there to get kids into the cars and buses before a storm hit. The word through the grapevine is that there are some who are thinking this is the new way to go.
This is the problem.
Now, how does this get addressed? We shall see.
A post from the Campus Safety Magazine Blog that exemplifies the problem.
http://www.campussafetymagazine.com/Blog/Campus-Command-Post/Story/2012/01/Don-t-Use-Hallways-As-Tornado-Shelters.aspx
Reportedly in New Castle, IN, similar action was taken by school administrators there to get kids into the cars and buses before a storm hit. The word through the grapevine is that there are some who are thinking this is the new way to go.
This is the problem.
Now, how does this get addressed? We shall see.
A post from the Campus Safety Magazine Blog that exemplifies the problem.
http://www.campussafetymagazine.com/Blog/Campus-Command-Post/Story/2012/01/Don-t-Use-Hallways-As-Tornado-Shelters.aspx
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Henryville, IN
I took a trip down to Henryville, IN today. I had spoken with Larry Ervin, the Hancock County EMA Director, who put me in touch with the Clark County EMA Director Les Kavanaugh, who invited me down to take some pictures of the damage.
No words or pictures can do justice to the damage done to Henryville, especially the elementary and high schools. I spent about four hours there, and took over 460 pictures. There was a lot to see, and a whole lot more to think about.
I was able to walk many of the hallways, and got a good look at a lot of the damage done. I have heard some grumblings that we need to alter how we shelter from storms. After all that I had seen, I beg to differ. There are reasons we have done things the way we do. Valid reasons. Having a bad incident doesn't mean we can everything we've done and invent something new.
I heard some talk after the Joplin tornado that we should not shelter students in hallways, because they would become wind tunnels. Well, if you take away interior hallways in most schools, you won't have enough shelter space for everyone in your school.
I will be working on a "best practices' article outlining what the current best practices are for sheltering during a tornado. With that in hand, THEN we can start talking about whether they should be changed or not.
But let's not be reactionary here. Lives are at stake.
No words or pictures can do justice to the damage done to Henryville, especially the elementary and high schools. I spent about four hours there, and took over 460 pictures. There was a lot to see, and a whole lot more to think about.
I was able to walk many of the hallways, and got a good look at a lot of the damage done. I have heard some grumblings that we need to alter how we shelter from storms. After all that I had seen, I beg to differ. There are reasons we have done things the way we do. Valid reasons. Having a bad incident doesn't mean we can everything we've done and invent something new.
I heard some talk after the Joplin tornado that we should not shelter students in hallways, because they would become wind tunnels. Well, if you take away interior hallways in most schools, you won't have enough shelter space for everyone in your school.
I will be working on a "best practices' article outlining what the current best practices are for sheltering during a tornado. With that in hand, THEN we can start talking about whether they should be changed or not.
But let's not be reactionary here. Lives are at stake.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
The F4 tornado that struck Henryville High School in Southern Indiana has generated a brisk discussion on how they responded. Fox News posted an excellent article framing the discussion HERE.
If a storm is coming, should the kids stay, or should they go? It's a tough call. If they stay, they are bunched together, but they are in your sphere of control. If they go, they are out of your control, but you may still have liability for them. The end result in Henryville was that no one got hurt, and I will not attempt to diminish that result.
When I first heard this story, I remember thinking, "Wow! That was a gutsy call!" I found myself wondering if that should be examined as a viable alternative in a storm. My short answer is yes, with a caveat. Too often in education, a horrendous event will cause people to jump on a bandwagon. Look at the numerous theories on Active Shooter response that came out after the Chardon HS shooting.
I spoke with Dave Emmert, Chief Counsel for the Indiana School Boards Association about liability. Dr, Emmert was, as is usual, very passionate in his discussion with me. Regardless of the choice a school makes, six members of a jury are going to judge your actions on a 'reasonableness' basis. The facts in each case will guide the individual findings. But, as we often say in emergency management, the time to think about the disaster is before it occurs.
Was it reasonable to release the children early? Sitting here in the comfort in my home, I can easily answer either yes or no, and feel myself right. The truth is, I am glad I wasn't in that position. However, I may be, someday, just as I was in 2002 when an F3 tornado in Indiana hit the middle school behind us and came within 50 yards of my elementary school. So what is there to consider?
175mph winds of an F4 tornado don't have many things that will provide shelter. The damage done to the high school in Henryville is proof enough. But how much more protection does it offer than a school bus? Several buses were caught out in the storm. Intrepid drivers got their kids into safe areas. One bus returned to the school in just enough time to get the students into the school. They were safe. The bus was stripped off of its frame and thrown into a nearby restaurant.
Schools typically are responsible for the students until the time they are safely off of the bus. How long does it take your buses to get everyone home? Will there be someone at home waiting? What are the ages of the students you are sending home? Are drivers properly prepared to respond if they are caught out in the open? Do you have a means of alerting parents that their children are coming home early?
Should they stay or should they go? Let's have that discussion now, while the weather is calm.
If a storm is coming, should the kids stay, or should they go? It's a tough call. If they stay, they are bunched together, but they are in your sphere of control. If they go, they are out of your control, but you may still have liability for them. The end result in Henryville was that no one got hurt, and I will not attempt to diminish that result.
When I first heard this story, I remember thinking, "Wow! That was a gutsy call!" I found myself wondering if that should be examined as a viable alternative in a storm. My short answer is yes, with a caveat. Too often in education, a horrendous event will cause people to jump on a bandwagon. Look at the numerous theories on Active Shooter response that came out after the Chardon HS shooting.
I spoke with Dave Emmert, Chief Counsel for the Indiana School Boards Association about liability. Dr, Emmert was, as is usual, very passionate in his discussion with me. Regardless of the choice a school makes, six members of a jury are going to judge your actions on a 'reasonableness' basis. The facts in each case will guide the individual findings. But, as we often say in emergency management, the time to think about the disaster is before it occurs.
Was it reasonable to release the children early? Sitting here in the comfort in my home, I can easily answer either yes or no, and feel myself right. The truth is, I am glad I wasn't in that position. However, I may be, someday, just as I was in 2002 when an F3 tornado in Indiana hit the middle school behind us and came within 50 yards of my elementary school. So what is there to consider?
175mph winds of an F4 tornado don't have many things that will provide shelter. The damage done to the high school in Henryville is proof enough. But how much more protection does it offer than a school bus? Several buses were caught out in the storm. Intrepid drivers got their kids into safe areas. One bus returned to the school in just enough time to get the students into the school. They were safe. The bus was stripped off of its frame and thrown into a nearby restaurant.
Schools typically are responsible for the students until the time they are safely off of the bus. How long does it take your buses to get everyone home? Will there be someone at home waiting? What are the ages of the students you are sending home? Are drivers properly prepared to respond if they are caught out in the open? Do you have a means of alerting parents that their children are coming home early?
Should they stay or should they go? Let's have that discussion now, while the weather is calm.
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