Editor’s note: The following editorial is a compilation of first-person experiences with the tornado warning on March 31., and was brought together into one account written by the entire Trail staff. Names of teachers, students and staff are anonymous.

Before
My friend and I were walking across the courtyard when her phone started going off with the tornado warning alert. I remember looking around and just realizing truly how windy and warm it was– the perfect conditions for a really bad tornado. My phone was still in the classroom and we were outside. I was kind of scared.
I was in my English class and the class was extremely quiet reviewing old work. All of the phones on the way blared with the emergency siren. I thought that it was an Amber Alert at first, but then I remembered the severe weather warning I saw earlier on my phone. Then everyone’s phones started going off. We just froze, even my teacher froze up. Suddenly shocked, my teacher jumped up and asked everyone to go check. When we all walked over and checked our phones it was obvious it was a tornado alert. We all sort of sat there for a minute, a brief moment where we all sat there and were like, “Are we doing this?” No one moved until there was the announcement over the intercom that we were going under a weather warning. Once in the hallway, it was crowded and our class wasn’t sure where to go. My class was right next to the door at the end of the hall, me and my friend looked out of the glass and saw it wasn’t even raining yet. We just kind of laughed, confused why this was happening since the weather seemed fine.
My teacher told us to put everything down and go. “I’m not playing, y’all need to go,” she said, as everyone started running out of the classroom. I kept getting shoved not knowing where I was going, and just following the crowd.
While [the teacher] was rushing us downstairs, I realized that we were the only class. All of the other teachers were just standing in the hallway, kind of like “Should we go too?” When they saw us, they decided to bring their class out too.
During – What worked
I want to note that I’ve never done a tornado drill at McIntosh High School. I had no idea where to go, and neither did the people around me, until our teacher told us what to do, just before the alarms even went off. This was comforting because I knew that the halls would be empty and less chaotic and that the staircase would be one of the safest spaces to shelter in.
Yes, we made it to safety on time, but we were so confused getting there, and we weren’t sure about the severity of the weather.
I texted both of my parents as well as my brother who I think was in gym class at the time. I texted my brother to make sure that he was okay then I texted my parents. My mom was watching the news as well as updating me and my brother on the news. Awhile that was going on I was playing Block Blast and iMessage games and one person even wanted to play a group among us.
The fact that my teacher remembered our shelter space was comforting because of her readiness and knowledge. All teachers should have been as prepared as my teacher because a ready teacher means that kids can be calm and understanding.
During – What didn’t
Nobody took this seriously, at least not where I was. My teacher had no sense of urgency, thought it was all a joke, and everyone was starting to converse about whether or not it was real. No one was prepared or sure what to do at all. When we got to the auditorium, the doors were locked. We had to go all the way around through several staircases just to get in. As we were moving, one of the girls from my class was unconscious and had to be carried through all of those hallways and stairs. It would have been so much easier if the auditorium doors had been unlocked.
Once we got to our designated area students would not stop talking when the teachers were telling us what to do. So once the overhead announcement happened a lot of people were not able to hear where to go once the warning was over. It’s important that we can hear so we can know how to adjust.. I texted my mother about the situation.
During the time that we were under the warning, everyone was just on their phones or laughing and talking with other students. To me, it seemed like no one took it seriously at all. People were loud, obnoxious and constantly joking around. At one time someone even played a fake tornado siren on their phone.
My back was getting more sore by the minute. When they announced that we would be there until 1:30, everyone sighed in unison. Everyone was talking to their friends even though the teachers were telling them to be silent so they could hear. It just felt like everyone was taking it as a silly joke that’s an excuse to skip class.

My class was upstairs and I had no idea where we were supposed to be going in the event of a severe weather emergency. As my class walked out into the hallway, I expected for people to take this seriously, especially due to the known conditions of today with it being extremely rainy and thundery. Everyone was not sure where to go and had zero urgency in the hallway. I kept an eye on some of my classmates as we made it downstairs, but another classmate and I ended up getting lost in the sea of people. I kept asking “Where do we go?” and heard an adult instruct us to go to the chorus room, so that’s where I went. I squeezed myself underneath the bleachers and a friend of mine advised me to just stay put. As I laid there underneath the bleachers, wedged in between two people, the girl to my left was crying, and the girl to my right was trying to make light of the situation. We stayed in place and as I sat there, I really thought about how unprepared we were.
After we were just tracking the radar and making sure someone was ok after we knew that everyone was ok, we took some 0.5 and talked to keep everyone calm and okay while we waited. I also checked my phone and saw one of my friends post a picture under the risers in chorus saying, “What are we doing here?” People around were worried how their pets are, or that their sibling wasn’t responding [to messages] and how the radar showed the tornado was right above their house.
I wish that all of the teachers [took] better care of us and genuinely cared enough and knew enough to keep us safe in such a vulnerable position. They are adults and should know exactly what to do in one of these emergencies. If this tornado were any closer to us and actually started to affect us, I worry that we would’ve gotten seriously hurt.
After
Once we got to our designated area students would not stop talking when the teachers were telling us what to do. So once the overhead announcement happened a lot of people were not able to hear where to go once the warning was over.
[Teachers] are adults and should know exactly what to do in one of these emergencies. If this tornado were any closer to us and actually started to affect us, I worry that we would’ve gotten seriously hurt.
Why did communication fail when we needed it most? Finally, around 1:17, we were released and sent to the cafeteria. I got my lunch. The tornado passed. The flaws [in the sytem] hadn’t.
We need to bring awareness to the do’s and don’ts of a tornado drill, and better assign areas for every location because of all the lost students just following the crowd trying to get to safety.