TORNADO PREPAREDNESS
AND
MAN-MADE OCCURRENCE DISASTER
DRILL REPORT FORM
Revised 07/12
County__________________
School Corporation: Archdiocese of Indianapolis
Corp. # 9200
School ______________________________ City ________________________ School # ____
First Semester:
Tornado
Man-Made
Drill Date #1 ________________ Drill Date #1: ____________ Type: _____________________
Second Semester
Tornado
Man-Made
Drill Date #2 ________________ Drill Date #2: ____________ Type: _____________________
Additional Drill Dates (if applicable):
Date: ____________ Type: ________________ Date: __________ Type: ___________________
Date: ____________ Type: ________________ Date: __________ Type: ___________________
Date: ______
__ Type: ________________ Date: __________ Type: ___________________
IC 20-34-3-20 Manmade Occurrence Disaster Drill (effective July 1, 2007)*
Requires in addition to monthly fire evacuation drills, that each school and attendance center
shall conduct at least:
one (1) tornado preparedness drill; and
one (1) manmade occurrence disaster drill;
… during each semester.
Please keep this record of drills posted in the school building and place it in a file at the end of the
school year.
*Man-made occurrences range from an intruder in the school to a chemical spill near the school. So, the drills could
include lockdowns, evacuations for bomb threats or other non-fire events, various types of shelter-in-place drills,
reverse evacuations (getting kids back into the building because of a threat), school bus evacuations, offsite
evacuations, etc.).
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Tornado Safety Rules in Schools
IDOE Posted: Fri, 09/30/2011 - 2:24pm
Updated: Wed, 03/14/2012 - 11:13am
Several times in recent years, schools have been hit by tornadoes. In most instances, fortunately, classes
were not in session. In some other instances, where students were present, school officials familiar with
twisters safeguarded the children by taking prompt action just before the tornadoes hit.
NOAA's National Weather Service urges that all schools develop plans and conduct drills to cope with
tornadoes--particularly in the south and central states, where the threat is greatest. Tornado drills require
different actions than fire drills.
Among details to consider:
Remember that the National Weather Service issues a tornado Watch when the possibility of tornadoes
exists, and a tornado Warning when a tornado has been spotted or indicated on radar. Remember also
there may not be time for a tornado Warning before a twister strikes. Tornadoes form suddenly. Teachers
and students should know the difference between a Watch and a Warning.
School officials at the State and county level should have a plan for rapid dissemination of tornado Watches
and Warnings to every school in the system -- either by radio or telephone.
Each school should be inspected and tornado shelter areas designated. Schools with basements should
use these as shelters. Schools without basements should use interior hallways on the ground floor that are
not parallel to the tornado's path, which is usually from the southwest. Never use gymnasiums, auditoriums,
or other rooms with wide free-span roofs. Teachers and students should know their designated shelter
areas.
School Administrators should establish procedures governing use or non-use of school buses during
tornado Watches and Warnings. Generally speaking, school buses should continue to operate during
tornado Watches, but not during tornado Warnings. School buses are easily rolled by tornado winds.
During a tornado Watch, specific teachers or other school staff members should be designated to monitor
commercial radio or TV for tornado Warnings, even if the school has a NOAA Weather Radio tone-alert
system. Weather spotters also should keep an eye on the sky for dark, rolling clouds, hail, driving rain, or a
sudden increase in wind, in addition to the telltale funnel. Tornadoes are often obscured by precipitation or
darkness. Other public agencies, too, report tornado sightings.
A special alarm system should be designated to indicate a tornado has been sighted and is approaching. A
backup alarm should be planned for use if electrical power fails -- perhaps a battery-operated bullhorn, an
inexpensive hand-cranked siren, or even an old-fashioned hand-swung bell.
Specific teachers should be assigned to round up children on playgrounds or other outdoor areas during a
tornado warning. Otherwise, they might be overlooked.
Children in schoolrooms of weak construction--such as portable or temporary classrooms--should be
escorted to sturdier buildings or to predetermined ditches, culverts, or ravines, and instructed to lie face
down, hands over head. Most tornado deaths are caused by head injuries.
When children are assembled in school basements or interior hallways during a tornado drill or Warning,
they should be instructed to respond to a specific command to assume protective postures, facing interior
walls, when the danger in imminent. Such a command might be: "Everybody down!" It is essential that this
command be instantly understood and obeyed. Illustrations showing the protective position should be
posted on bulletin boards.
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If a school bus is caught in the open when a tornado is approaching, the children should be escorted to a
nearby ditch or ravine and made to lie face down, hands over head. They should be far enough away so the
bus cannot topple on them.
School-bus drivers should be regularly drilled in Tornado procedures.
School district officials planning new buildings or additions should keep tornadoes in mind when setting
construction standards.
TORNADO ACTIONS
Tornado Watch
Signal: ______________________________________________
IT MEANS: There is a chance of dangerous weather later with damaging winds. Be
on the lookout for the danger signs listed below and be ready to move quickly to
safety if the Warning Signal is given.
WHAT TO DO ______________________________________________
Tornado Warning
Signal: ______________________________________________
IT MEANS: A tornado has been sighted. Go at once to the area listed below. If you
see or hear the tornado coming, do not wait for the Warning Signal – go to your
shelter area if there is time, it not, curl up on the floor and protect yourself as the boy
in the picture is doing. If a tornado comes while you are on the school bus, get away
from the bus and into a nearby ditch or ravine. Lie down, hands over head.
WHAT TO DO ______________________________________________
DANGER SIGNS
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
Thunder, lightning, heavy
rains, and strong winds
ROARING NOISE
Like a hundred railroad
locomotives; a crashing
thunderous sound
HAIL
FUNNEL
Pellets of ice from dark-clouded Dark, spinning "rope" or
skies
column from the sky to the
ground
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IDOE Updated: Wed, 03/14/2012 - 11:13am
Tornado Safety Position
Recently several calls and e-mails have asked for verification of the correct tornado safety position for children to take
during drills (and actual tornadoes) in schools.
The correct tornado safety position is like the one illustrated in the "Tornadoes: Nature's Most Violent Storms"
brochure (American Red Cross 5002). The child should be sitting/kneeling FACING the wall, with his/her hands over
the back of his/her head and neck, tucked into a ball.
There was concern from some people that this leaves the child's back exposed and therefore subject to spinal injury.
Over 50 years of statistics collected by the Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Public Health Service, indicate that NO
children have been injured by a tornado when they are in this position. Contrarily, data indicate that there have been
some injuries to children when they are facing the other way. The injuries those children received were abrasions, cuts,
and contusions caused by flying debris; and severe eye injuries (including two children blinded, one in Illinois in
1982). Children can't help but want to try to look up and thus get debris in their eyes. The other major problem with the
face-forward position is, once again as kids can't resist trying to "sneak a peek," there are documented cases of severe
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in children who observed damage while it was happening.
Updates on Required Safety Drills
IC 20-34-3-20 Man-made Occurrence/Disaster Drills (effective July 1, 2007)*
Sec. 20:
(a) The governing body of a school corporation shall require each school in the governing body's
jurisdiction to conduct periodic fire drills during the school year in compliance with rules
adopted under IC 4-22-2 by the state board (in compliance with Section 405.2 IFC, Revised 2003, that
provides that emergency evacuation [fire] drills “shall be conducted monthly” in all schools).
(b) Each school and attendance center shall conduct at least:
one (1) tornado preparedness drill; and
one (1) man-made occurrence disaster drill;*
…
during each semester.
(c) The governing body of a school corporation shall require each principal to file a certified
statement that all drills have been conducted as required under this section.
(For the archdiocese certification will be handled as follows):
The principal or principal's designee shall maintain a permanent record of all drills including past
years. Appropriate forms for recording the drills are available at www.archindy.org, Member Area,
Forms, School Opening Forms. For fire drills, the State Fire Marshal who visits the school will
check the posted Fire Drill Record.
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Fire drills must be conducted each month regardless of weather or circumstances (usually 10
drills per year). Not to conduct required safety drills is considered a “irrecoverable error” for
purposes of school accreditation. To falsify records of drills may be a criminal offense.
*Definition: Manmade Occurrence Disaster Drills:
Originally conceived by the authors as a practice lockdown or shelter-in-place drill, the Indiana
legislature broadened this definition to include various types of drills that might be needed for
manmade occurrences ranging from an intruder in the school to a chemical spill near the school.
So, the definition includes lockdowns, evacuations for bomb threats, various types of shelter-inplace drills, reverse evacuations (getting kids back into the building because of a threat), school
bus evacuations, offsite evacuations, etc.). The point is that each school in Indiana is required to
do one drill each semester on disaster scenarios other than fire and tornado in addition to required
fire evacuation and tornado drills.
OCE/gjp Revised 07/12
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