May 4, 1992 Tornadoes all day

Testing weather sirens this week reminded me of a school day exactly twenty six (26) years ago. School started normally. Students gathered outside on the playground and lined up by class. With the teachers in front of each group, we said the Pledge of Allegiance together.  The students in classes on the first floor entered through the left Mason Street (front) entrance, those on the second floor entered through the right door, or walked around to the west (parking lot) door entrance. It was all orderly and routine on a beautiful spring day.

Around 11:00 am the first siren sounded.

Our tornado drill had been practiced in early March, so all of the teachers and students knew what to do. We evacuated all the classes on the second floor. They crowded the hallways alongside the first floor classes. The second floor grades, 3-4-5, were bigger students making for a tight fit. I could barely walk down between the groups of students. I paced nervously waiting for the threat to end. When you are a principal you feel personally responsible for the safety of everyone.

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The students were orderly and I told the teachers we would stay in the hallways until we had an all clear. I also said it was not necessary for the students to have their heads down and covered. This was an uncomfortable position and I felt it should only be used when a tornado impact was imminent

The problem this day was the threat didn’t end. I had dispatched teachers without students to watch  at the entrances for any sign of a tornado, but to stay inside. We did not spot anything, but instead of an all clear, we got a second tornado siren.

We had a radio on in the office starting with the first siren. We were aware that tornadoes had been sighted in two locations in the county. I knew we were going to need to stay in shelter for a while.

11:00 am was the beginning of our lunch periods. The food was all prepared and the students were likely hungry. I had previously used the cafeteria as an alternative shelter. This was necessary when the student population at Irving exceeded 550, just before the new junior high building had opened.

While in college, I chaired a disaster planning committee for the university residence halls. From that I experience I learned the need to keep people out of rooms with high ceilings. For this reason, a gymnasium is not a good shelter.

The exception to the high ceiling recommendation occurred if the large room had additional  rooms over top. This provided a barrier that would provide more protection for  the room below.

Although the cafeteria had a relatively high ceiling, the entire library learning center sat above it. The cafeteria was not the safest place in the building, but it was a reasonable alternative. I elected to begin to move one grade level at a time into for a quick lunch. The remaining grade levels were to stay in the first floor hallways.

This began a form of musical chairs. As the first class moved into the cafeteria, the next class moved and  took their place in the hallway. The remaining classes would follow moving down the hallways.

The movement worked fine until the first class left the cafeteria. They had to move back to their original location, while another class moved into the cafeteria.

This day demonstrated the quality of the Irving staff. The teachers had impressive control and the patience with their students. Students were relatively quiet, and moved orderly. There were no complaints about the crowded conditions.

I can still see the teachers standing or sitting on a chair in the hallway as they read to their students, conducted math skills drills, or discussed items from reading. Not only was the school orderly, education was occurring!

During the lunch periods, there was a third siren. This kept us in shelter for over two(2) hours. Eventually the all clear was given and everyone returned to their classrooms.

That day had 5 tornadoes sighted in McLean County. Fortunately none of them hit the city. Damage was quite small as the tornadoes stayed in rural areas and did not cause damage there. The last one was sighted around 5:00 pm, well after dismissal.

It was not a tragedy. It was a demonstration of the effectiveness of a quality staff to manage a difficult situation.