The Huntsville Item, Huntsville, TX

Local News

Related Photos

  • Students at New Waverly High School duck and cover in the hallway during a mock tornado drill Wednesday morning. As part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, emergency officials with the city of Huntsville and Walker County put on the drill at area schools. Submitted photo

    2-23 tornado drill.JPG

Discussion

February 22, 2012

Area schools take part in tornado drill

By Cody Stark Staff Reporter

HUNTSVILLE — Practice makes perfect so Walker County emergency officials wanted to make sure area youngsters have down pat what they need to do when tornado conditions pop up.

On Wednesday morning, the Walker County and City of Huntsville Emergency Management offices and members of the Huntsville Fire Department hosted mock tornado drills as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week at all Huntsville and New Waverly ISD campuses. The drills began at 10 a.m. and last about 20 minutes.

The students, in all classes, were taken into the halls of the buildings and instructed to duck and cover, placing their heads between their knees with their arms protecting the tops of their heads.

“We had people strategically placed at Huntsville and New Waverly ISD,” said Butch Davis, the Walker County Office of Emergency Management coordinator said. “We communicated through radios and the kids did a wonderful job.”

This is the second time in the past month students have gone through tornado drills. When severe weather hit the Walker County area on Jan. 25, the students experienced the real thing when they were forced to take cover in the hallways.

Davis said they wanted to go through the motions again as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week to keep the drill fresh in the students’ minds.

“We just want the kids to be familiar with the drill,” Davis said. “You need to have a plan in place because severe weather can strike at any moment. We just want the kids to know how to move and what to do.”

Emergency management officials also ran county and city alerts through NOAA weather radio and smart phone applications on Wednesday. City emergency management coordinator John Waldo took care of Huntsville, Davis the county and deputy emergency management coordinator David Anderson handled New Waverly.

The Walker County Public Notification Center notified the courthouse and the annex, which were in communication with Butch to let him know they received the alerts. Officials also used ham radios for communication with the help of Joe Connell, who is the regional director for Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES).

“We had people placed throughout the county and communicating from different locations,” Davis said. “This turned out to be a real beneficial exercise for the community.”

People are again reminded to check out the Walker County Office of Emergency Management’s Facebook page to receive up to date information on conditions in the area and get severe weather awareness tips.

Text Only
Local News