Tornado drills could be the difference when disaster strikes

CALEDONIA, Miss. (WCBI)-  What happens when it’s not a drill?

One Lowndes County high school has the first-hand experience with a tornado.

Ten years ago the unthinkable happened.

“All of a sudden it got dark. I have a skylight, so it got completely dark. There was no sunshine coming through The power was out, and our ears started hurting,” said Rebecca Studdard.

The students were in class when an EF-3 tornado hit Caledonia High School.

“Mr. Putnam made the call to bring them all over here, and that building is the building that had a bus on top of it at the end of the storm so that call that he made had everyone over here in the same building and safe,” said Studdard.

Teachers and staff worked to keep students safe.

Today the goal is still the same.

“Preparation is the key you have to prepare, and we have drills in order to prepare students to prepare staff to know what to do if a drill or an event actually happens, so we prepare we prepare monthly we practice fire drill’s we practiced tornado drills such as the one that happened today,” said Kristie Jones.

“Every teacher has a crisis management plan, and we revisit that frequently in faculty meetings. Students know the crisis management plan the students know where to go the teachers know where to go,” said Studdard.

The drills keep students calm.

“I think that’s one good thing about having the drills. They’ll be used to it when, yet as opposed to just waiting until the tornado comes, and I think that’s when you’re panic would be. If you had not been through the drill make it a routine I guess you could say,” said Principal Andy Stevens.

The halls might be empty now, but if that siren sounds again, teachers will be ready to make sure their students are safe.

Lowndes County has started taking extra precautions when it comes to tornado safety. New Hope High School, Caledonia Elementary, and The career technical center all have tornado shelters.