Mr. Windy drill: Safety message to Fort Sill parents

By Cindy McIntyreMay 20, 2016

Roll call assurance
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Miranda Daniel tallies the roll call of all the classrooms during a Mr. Windy drill at Freedom Elementary School at Fort Sill, Okla. Each classroom does a face-to-name tally to be sure all children are accounted for. The tornado drill took less than ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Storm safe
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Mr. Windy!
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Alert messaging
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FORT SILL, Okla., May 20, 2016 -- Editor's note: This is second in a series on tornado and severe weather preparedness.

"Mr. Windy, Mr. Windy, Mr. Windy. We are doing a Mr. Windy drill. Please proceed to the Chickadees Room."

The announcement for a tornado drill came over the loudspeaker at Fort Sill's Cooper Child Development Center on the morning of May 11, but two weeks earlier it wasn't a drill.

The tornado-safe Chickadees Room then was filled not only with 200 children and several dozen caregivers and staff, but also with parents who had come to pick up their children when the tornado warning was issued. Parents already there at the usual pick up time were soon joined by others who feared for the safety of their children.

The center's protocol is to lock down the facility, and staff refused to let the children leave. Frantic parents were allowed inside and many joined their children in the safe room. Although designed for around 380 children and staff, it made for a very uncomfortable hour-long event said Lindsay Insomya, Cooper CDC facility director.

"The room got very, very hot, very stuffy," she said. "We actually worried about the health and safety of the children with 300-plus people in there."

There may be times when they need to shelter even longer, and it becomes more challenging to keep young children comfortable.

The safe room was designed with concrete-reinforced walls twice as thick as the rest in the center, and metal dampers are pulled down over all the glass windows and doors. If the power goes out, there is no generator, but each classroom has an LED flashlight that resides on a charger.

Insomya said the staff drills monthly on severe storms, and the goal is to get everyone into the Chickadee room in under two minutes. This drill aced it at one minute, 45 seconds.

She said they call them Mr. Windy drills so as not to alarm the older kids.

"If we know there's going to be severe storms in the afternoon, in morning we might do a Mr. Windy drill so that all the kids and caregivers are familiar and there's no confusion," she said.

During drills and the real thing, nobody is allowed to leave. Not visitors. Not parents.

Nobody.

So when Insomya made the Mr. Windy drill announcement, that training kicked into action. The babies came out first, three to a wheeled crib. The toddlers at the other end of the building held hands and followed their teachers. Some were laughing. A few were upset at the commotion.

Once inside, the cribs were lined up against the interior wall, and caregivers immediately started singing "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands," to keep the babies amused. Toddlers were seated by group and kept busy with activities while someone did a face-to-name accountability check, counting not just heads, but making sure each child by name was there.

Insomya wants parents to know, "We'd rather parents be safe where they are than try to get here to be with their kids."

Tincher and Grierson CDCs do not have safe rooms, but they use interior rooms, hallways and bathrooms, according to Brenda Spencer-Ragland, director of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation at Fort Sill.

Tincher's main safe area is the gross motor room which is designed for active play. "There is padding on the walls, and there are no tables or chairs," she said. The chance of flying debris is reduced because of that.

Spencer-Ragland said that there is a "documented requirement we are pursuing" for design and funding of a FEMA-approved safe room at Tincher.

Spencer-Ragland wants parents to know their role in an emergency is to stay safe themselves.

"The priority for us is the safety and security of the children," she said. "The staff is not just diligent, but they are very caring." She said the CDCs have received many positive comments on their safety procedures during inspections and from headquarters level.

She said parents who want to participate in a fire, tornado, or other emergency drill are welcome. Just make arrangements with the center director. Spencer-Ragland believes that will help allay any concerns parents have about the safety of their children should another incident occur such as the tornado warning April 29.

Freedom Elementary also experienced "total chaos" during the April 29 tornado warning, and principal Mikel Shanklin wants to be sure that doesn't happen again.

She said the timing of the warning was just as pre-K was letting out and parents were already lined up in their cars. Around 60 parents were allowed in the school even though the school went into immediate lockdown, and they were told they could shelter in the music room, which is one of the safe rooms. Many refused, either joining their children (with dogs, strollers and other family members) in the safe rooms where their Freedom children were, pulling their children from one wing to join a sibling in another wing's safe room, or taking their children out of school into the hail and wind.

"We couldn't stop them," said Shanklin. "In reality they put us in harm's way. Parents need to understand their interference (with safety procedures) keeps the staff from being safe. None of my assistants and counselors were able to take cover."

Freedom Elementary has about 1,100 students, and 120 teachers and staff. Just completing its first year of operation, it is perhaps one of the safest buildings on post during an emergency. Its safe rooms are designed to withstand an EF5 tornado, said Shanklin. She pointed out the red phone outside the office that is pre-programmed with school-wide announcements depending on the type of emergency. There are other systems that protect against a biological attack, keeping outside air from entering the building.

The pre-K/kindergarten wing has its own safe room, as does the wing for first through fifth graders. The two music rooms are also designated as shelters for students who are already there or in physical education class when a warning is issued. The new pre-K wing under construction will also have a safe room.

Kyle Smith, building coordinator for Lawton Public Schools, said that each FEMA-qualified safe room in the school is constructed of cement blocks with rebar reinforcement and poured concrete for extra strength. They have metal ceilings and FEMA-certified shutters on the windows. The rooms are all active classrooms as well, and each has a bathroom, which helps in an extended stay.

"We all learned from that storm," said Shanklin, and changes in procedures have been implemented. "I'm not going to turn someone away if they're in the building or parking lot."

However, next time there may not be anyone to let them in. Shanklin said during the next lockdown all children and staff will be in their designated shelters. For parents who are already in the building before lockdown, gates to classroom wings will be closed to prevent them accessing areas other than the music room.

Students will not be released until Fort Sill gives the all-clear, she emphasized. During the April 29 lockdown, parents in the school had received all-clear messages on their cell phones, but the students could still not be released until the post has issued its own all-clear.

Freedom is also expanding its School Messenger system to relay emergency messages to parents on their smart phones.

Warnings and alerts come to the school via many avenues, said Shanklin: the post's AtHoc system, an AMX system that broadcasts alerts on classroom smart boards and the numerous television screens throughout the building, and the "walkie-talkie" LMR (land mobile radio) system with repeaters which maintains communication when cell phones won't work.

"Fort Sill now checks in with us three times a day," said Shanklin. "We can be in contact with the military police station if we need help."

School personnel will also be trained on the WebEOC system so they can post interactive updates in emergency situations, along with the other emergency responders.

The parent handbook will be revised and a handout given to parents at the beginning of the next school year detailing the procedures and protocols in place, and what they should and should not do in the case of an emergency.

The real-life tornado drill April 29 turned out to be a series of lessons learned, and gave opportunities to improve safety procedures in all of Fort Sill's facilities, said Shanklin. She understands the fear and panic parents have for their children during an emergency, but wants them to know that the safety procedures and facilities at Freedom Elementary are unsurpassed.

"We all want our children to be safe," Shanklin stressed, "and that's what I want parents to understand. We're taking care of them. My job is to protect every child and staff member in this building, and I cannot stand by and let anyone keep me from keeping everybody in this building safe."