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powl
New Member
USA
5 Posts |
 Posted - 02/15/2005 : 10:53:09 AM
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Greetings! This is my first post. I've had so many questions answered and found a busload of solutions, that it was not necessary to post before now. I'm well into my 2nd year of driving a HS/Grd. school route and have often wondered what would be the safest course of action, if while driving the bus, I encountered a sudden tornado situation like the one that hit Plainfield, Il. in 1989. I've seen photos of school buses that were parked at the Plainfield High School...whew! thanks! powl
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Cody
Top Member
United States
1630 Posts |
Posted - 02/15/2005 : 1:39:19 PM
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| Washington, Illinois, eh? I'm your neighbor over in Metamora! Glad to see you here! Do you drive for district 50? |
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powl
New Member
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - 02/15/2005 : 3:30:00 PM
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| Greetings, Cody! I drive for 309 (East Peoria Community High School)Have you had any severe weather crisis training? |
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Cody
Top Member
United States
1630 Posts |
Posted - 02/15/2005 : 3:40:21 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by powl
Greetings, Cody! I drive for 309 (East Peoria Community High School)Have you had any severe weather crisis training?
What bus do you drive? I'll look for it next time I go by there! And no, I havent had any severe weather training since I'm not old to drive a bus yet (13)  |
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powl
New Member
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - 02/15/2005 : 4:01:52 PM
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| Not old enough to drive yet? Seems to me that every year medical doctors are looking younger and younger...so why not bus drivers??? just kidding. Us OLD people have a tendacy to rattle on. |
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bosslady
Advanced Member
USA
336 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2005 : 06:37:41 AM
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If your state is prone to tornado's like mine is you should have a plan in place for tornados.
We don't leave in the buses if their is a tornado warning, but keep them in their schools. (Of course, a warning means one has been sighted.
If the buses are on their routes and a tornado is sighted in the area we can contact the drivers by radio.
Each driver has thought of a few places on their routes where they might take the students if necessary. The proper persons have been notified of this. If there is absolutely so place to take the students, stop the bus and have your passengers lie flat in the nearest ravine or ditch. If no depression is available, have them lie flat, face down with head toward the tornado, head covered by hands, but away from the bus. Under no circumstances should you have passengers remain on the bus.
I would try to think some of places with shelter to take them, as I can't imagine trying to get a bunch of students to lie face down with a tornado coming. However, the experts say that is better than remaining on the bus. |
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powl
New Member
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2005 : 07:30:43 AM
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Thanks Bosslady! While deciding to evacuate 20-50+ students into a cold, wet ditch could cause any driver some hesitation, I imagine, given the gravity of the circumstance, that once a plan of action was decided on, the students would repond quite well, since they have years of in-school fire/tornado drills. And that such situations don't necessarily occur only when the bus is loaded to capacity.
Should I (or my company) have an understanding with those designated evacuation places of what to expect in the event such a situation does happen? What if the desire for this type of preparedness plan is disregarded/dismissed because 'we don't have that much severe weather/tornados'?
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Stevebus42
Advanced Member
USA
363 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2005 : 05:02:47 AM
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I drive for Norman Public Schools in Norman Oklahoma. We are fortunate to have the National Severe Storm Center. There are two classes of tornado warning. The first warning state that condition can exsist for a possable storm in a certain area betwee3n the present and say 6pm. The second warning is that a tornado is on the ground with movement to the east. All tornado move from west to East they may take a southernly or a northernly track. We have a very good warning system in place for tornadoes. The safest place for the kids is in a school building most schools will sustain up to an F 5 storm. In the event that returning to school is not an option then look for that Bar ditch lay face down. For more information on what to do in a tornado I would suggest you contact one of these television stations' weather department via e mail I have personaly talked to them and they are more than happy to work with bus drivers.try these links
http://www.kfor.com/html or call 405) 478-6397
http://www.kwtv.com/ or call(405) 843-6641
http://www.channeloklahoma.com or call
405) 478-3000
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Hoekstraguy
Active Member
12 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2005 : 07:47:03 AM
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| Just a point do NOT EVER park under a bridge, nor should you seek shelter under one. Yes they are solid structures, however their design actually increases the force of the wind underneath the bridge. You may have seen on TV the news crew that took cover under a bridge from a tornado, this is the wrong thing to do. lying in a ditch away from the vehicle as mentioned above is probably the safest thing to do when you have no shelter available to go to. Just my 2 cents. |
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tornado season
