"Parents face tough choice when tornadoes bear down"

[uppityperson]

I can not begin to imagine. Good article.

http://www.kypost.com/dpps/news/national/parents-face-tough-choice-when-tornadoes-bear-down_8516006

MOORE, Okla. - With an ominous storm approaching, the Moore Public School District flashed a text alert to parents: "We are currently holding all students until the current storm danger is over. Students are being released to parents only at this time."

Parents had a gut-wrenching choice, and only a few minutes to make it. Trust the safety of the seemingly solid school buildings and the protection of trained teachers and staff. Or drive frantically ahead of a massive tornado and attempt to take their children safely home.

"Something clicked in my head and said that my children would be afraid and they would be safer with me," said Amy Sharp, who jumped in her pickup, peeled off through pounding rain and hail, and pulled her 10- and 12-year-old daughters out Plaza Towers Elementary School.

Sharp survived with her children. But seven of the many remaining students died when the twister ripped down the school's roof and walls.

Exactly how do desperate parents like those in the path of the powerful Oklahoma tornado know when it's best to leave their children in a presumably safe place or race into the face of danger?...(more)

[datasuspect]

1. if i had kids

i would run through fire and minefields to get to them. i would do the same for my kin (parent/siblings).

but not having children - there's no way i could ever imagine what that would be like for those parents.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

3. Getting to them, sure, but then what?

The dilemma discussed here is purely a practical one, not a test of courage - are you and your children safer in a moderately secure building which the tornado is going to go right over, or in a flimsy car which may be able to avoid it.

I'm very glad I didn't have to make that guess.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. The parents don't know and can't know what is the best or safest course to take in a situation

like that. They just have to trust their gut instincts and hope for the best outcome. I don't know what decision I would have made in that circumstance, but I just might have decided that they were safer at the school than they would have been in a vehicle out in the storm.

[uppityperson]

5. Yup. No matter what you chose, it could be very wrong. I saw a row of cars on highway, if it'd hit

them, the traffic jam would've turned tragic really fast.

[liberal_at_heart]

4. hind sight is always 20/20. There was no way they could have known it would be an EF-5.

But after two EF-5s in 15 years I bet they will be more wary next time. I'm glad to hear the mayor mention forcing homebuilders to make safe rooms when building homes. I lived in Texas and Kansas and saw the evolution of homebuilding. I always wondered why there were no more basements or storm shelters. I remember in Kansas our closest shelter was a church. You shouldn't have to drive anywhere when there are tornadoe sirens going off. You should be able to just get in a safe room or basement in your own home. And of course schools should have them too. It should be a no brainer. But when you get republicans, profit, and deregulation involved there are no brains.