July/August 2020 - 32

EYE OF THE
Storm
Using Integrated Technology To Track Severe Weather
By Wesley Sykes, Managing Editor
On average, the state of Oklahoma gets hit by 52
tornadoes per year. With the constant concern of severe
weather, athletic administrators from Hennessey High
School in Hennessey, Oklahoma must be prepared for
the event of a tornado and how to protect its students and
fellow community members.
That's where the Eagle Event Center - Hennessey's
brand-new $9 million athletic facility, a certified FEMA
P-361 storm shelter - comes into play.
" This is primarily and foremost a storm shelter, "
Dr. Michael Woods, Hennessey's superintendent said.
" It gives us a place to bring students during school or
activities in the event of a severe weather situation and
have more than adequate space for everyone on campus. "
As Woods described, the building has been wired
with a severe weather early warning system where a
signal is sent out if a tornado warning is issued in our or
neighboring counties. That warning triggers a modem
in the facility and unlocks a series of doors and turns
on lights, so anyone can access the shelter from outside
without the use of any additional manpower.
" As far as the determination of when to go in the
storm shelter, you're already too late if you just wait for
the warning, " Woods said. " We start looking at weather
systems three or four days out, and we keep track and
identify when things could get dicey and prepare for that
situation. We'll make out staff and students aware two or
three days ahead of time if we have to alter any schedules. "
Planning for severe weather - no matter if it's
tornadoes in the midwest, tropical storms along the Gulf
coast and Atlantic or anywhere that lightning strikes - is
among the highest of priorities for athletic administrators
across the country. And in the battle of keeping
communities abreast of breaking weather there are two
clear-cut leaders: DTN and Earth Networks.
DTN, with its WeatherSentry software and newly
32 JULY/AUGUST 2020
released OnGuard Siren alerting system, provides a
robust option in the real-time tracking of severe weather
conditions. For Gene Patterson, assistant athletic
director and CAT at Woodward Academy in College
Park, Georgia, choosing to go with DTN felt like the
right decision.
" When it comes to athletics and athletic events,
you're concerned about every person apart of the
event - coaches, athletes, officials, and spectators, "
said Patterson, who's school has the WeatherSentry
software already in place but in the process of installing
the OnGuard Siren. " And when someone is visiting the
campus for the first time and unfamiliar with the area,
they hear the horn go off and a PA announcement and it
validates the reason. "
Able to be heard one to two miles in range, depending
on the setting, the OnGuard Siren from DTN can detect
weather formations from as far out as 60 miles with
various advisory alerts on storms that are 20 to 25 miles
out to cautionary warnings at 15 miles and incoming
warnings at eight miles.
" [These products] help us easily predict what's going
to happen by watching the weather and seeing a front
coming in, " Patterson said. " But then there's also those
August, 92-degree days with high humidity that stirs
up a thunderstorm that just appears and we have to be
prepared for both. "
With Woodward Academy being a K-12 school of
roughly 2,505 students - about 1,000 of whom are
high school students - the use of DTN's products have
brought additional support to the school aside from
athletic events. Patterson said the school is built like a
college campus, with different classes located in separate
buildings on the property. Add in recess time for the
younger students and outdoor physical education classes,
and the presence of and peace of mind of DTN carries a
July/August 2020

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