Coaches Shelter for Tornado's

[ABCTechnique]

Just curious ... in case of a Tornado where do you guys have your kids go. My boss at our gym says the pit with 8 incher's over the top. I don't agree ... but what do you guys think?

 

[fuzi]

That sounds ridiculous.

When we had tornado warnings at the gym I worked at in Florida, we went into the bathrooms which had no exterior walls or windows. The kids were to cover their head and necks with their arms.

 

[skschlag]

That is exactly where the kids in our gym went when a tornado came within 1/4 mile of the gym. Into the pit, 8 incher on top. THe worst part was the glass that broke and ended up in the pit but we had no injuries at the gym

 

[txgymfan]

I was taught as a child to go to the basement of our house. The logic is that the tornado would go over the basement, also it did not have windows to break. The pit would be the equivalent in the gym so it sounds logical to me.

 

[ABCTechnique]

Well my concern with the pit is debris or roofing falling on top and literally trapping the kids inside the pit or pressure on top from something heavy coming down on them. I would think the bathroom would be more logical. I watched the weather channel once and they showed a house completely torn down by a tornado and the closet was the only room no rip to shreds ... that's why they encourage the smallest room with no exterior walls or windows.

 

[skschlag]

Unfortunately, in a tornado, that risk is there no matter what. I know in the case at our gym, that was fastest, safest. The bathrooms would have been more scary to me, and less safe. IMO you make that decision on the spot, knowing that both are viable options. I know that D and I were under our stair case under cushions. That is good and bad. If our house had taken a direct hit we could have been trapped. Fortunately, it didn't.

 

[ABCTechnique]

Honestly I'm going under the staircase at the gym ... in my house the closet. I will follow the owners rules at the gym for the kids, but I'm going under the staircase if I have time. I keep picturing the side of the gym wall collapsing and all that going into the pit on top the kids (God forbid).

 

[GymMom67]

Having lived in tornado alley.....the pit does make sense, because it is essentially underground, and that is the best place to be. They say to go into the smallest room in the house with no windows IF you have no way to get underground. There is, of course, always the possibility of things falling on you and debris flying around, but if you have a way to get below ground level, that is the best option.

 

[JBS]

Our pit...channel bar...and trampolines are all in one big 8' deep hole. Obviously there is not much protection as there are just trampolines...wood...and foam over it......but it's lower than the rest of the gym...concrete walls...no windows.

 

[GymMom67]

Just wanted to add.....my husband is from Oklahoma and his family is still there, so when the monster tornado was going through Moore a couple of weeks ago, we hooked a laptop up to our TV to watch the live stream of Oklahoma City TV. They said over and over that being in a bathroom or a closet may not be enough with that one.....that people may very well need to be underground to survive it and were strongly urging people to find a way to do so. So that is why I said the pit is a better option. It is always better to be below ground level.

 

[jpow]

Here in Texas we also have the kids go in the pit with the 8'' on top. Sounds the best to me. If we run out of room in our pits, we go underneath our in ground trampolines with an 8'' on top of that. Unless the gym has a storm shelter, I can't think of any other alternatives.