Students in the Shelby County R-IV and North Shelby school districts took cover Tuesday morning after a tornado was spotted on the ground near South Shelby High School/Middle School.
“At North and South Shelby schools, we had them do their tornado drill,” said Glenn Eagan, emergency management director for Shelby County.
Although the two tornadoes spotted by law enforcement were in the southern part of the county, Eagan felt it was important for North Shelby students to also take cover.
“There were two or three of them at the same time spotting tornadoes, so we didn’t want to take any chances so we had North Shelby do theirs (tornado drill) also,” he said.
Shelbina Patrol Officer Steven Kelly spotted the tornado near the school of approximately 450 students.
“There was a tornado that touched down just northwest of South Shelby High School, moving northeast,” he said, adding that he felt confident the school was not in any immediate danger.
Rick Roberts, superintendent of Shelby County R-IV, was initially notified of the storm threat by a call from the county’s 911 center. A teacher at the school confirmed the report.
“They were stepping out to their car and saw a ‘tail’ in the clouds so they came back in and alerted us, and we got the kids where they needed to go,” he said. “It was a minute or two before they were where they needed to be, so it happened pretty quickly.”
Roberts was unsure how close the twister came to the school.
“I have nothing confirmed,” he said. “We just wanted to make sure that we had our kids safe. Anytime you’re in that situation you get the kids where they need to go.”
Where did South Shelby’s students go to escape the storm threat?
“They have certain areas in the building that are deemed safer than others so we try to get our kids to those certain points. Each class has a designated place to go,” said Roberts. “The administrators did a good job of getting them where they needed to go and also the teachers.”
Students were out of their classrooms for approximately an hour. During that time there was no sense of panic, according to Roberts.
“The kids handled it really well. Most of the time kids will do the right thing if they know what’s going on. We’ve got some very good kids and also good staff members who got them where they needed to go,” he said.
Tuesday’s response by students and staff at South Shelby will be reviewed and evaluated.
“It gives us an opportunity to look at what we do and see if there’s things we could do quicker or better, or if there are different places to put (students) that are safer,” said Roberts.
Roberts reported that students at both the Shelbina and Clarence elementary schools also took cover during the storm warning. No damage was reported at any Shelby County R-IV attendance center.
