What happened to Plaza Towers Elementary was a direct impact of the tornado... [View all]

[cynatnite]

All the ideas people have are well-meaning, but also unrealistic. I grew up in this part of the country. I went to school at Plaza Towers and Kelley Elementary in Moore. Kelley was demolished by a tornado in 1999.

It was a state of the art building designed to withstand powerful storms. We used to have our tornado drills at both schools in the hallways.

Basements were not built because they are very expensive addition. You're talking not just these schools, but many others in the school system. That's not to mention all the schools in tornado alley which stretches across several states. The costs have to be weighed which is difficult with school budgets.

While they will rebuild, it's hard to say whether or not they will add basements to the destroyed schools. I imagine they will do what is most feasible when it comes to rebuilding keeping in mind everything that happened.

It seems to me that we should put as much funds as possible towards the science of these storms. We need to do a better job in predicting these storms. Not just in giving more time to escape, but also do a better job of predicting the track, the intensity and the scope of these storms.

BTW, all our friends and family is safe. Some lost their homes, but everyone is safe.