Storm Shelter

As tornadoes bore down on central Kansas Saturday night, students from Trinity Academy, a Wichita high school, were preparing for their prom. But the group of 90 juniors and seniors soon had to move to a storm shelter, trying to make the best of a stormy night. Click here to read the full story from CBS News. Prom in storm shelter

Confusion may be the best way to explain it.     Last year Mulvane passed a $12.5 million bond issue to focus on safety and security. The concern started after a post on Facebook that said money for a FEMA approved storm shelter was taken out of the budget. “I did see it on Facebook,” says parent Samatha Saville. “I heard the rumor about storm shelters on Facebook yesterday,” says parent Tina Faught. The post raised concerns about the district possibly scrapping plans to build a FEMA approved storm shelter.  Now the district is explaining exactly what students at Munson Primary School in Mulvane will have by the time they return next fall.

Update:  Voters in the Chaparral High School district vote down a $5 million bond issue.  The issue lost by 38 votes. Voters were asked to support a bond issue to build a new practice gymnasium that would double as a storm shelter.  School officials hoped recent storms in the area would help gather support. The issue failed with 483 people voting no and 445 voting yes. ------------------------------------------------------------------ January 21, 2013 Twice last year there were big storm scares at Chaparral High School--once during prom, the other during graduation.

Nowhere to go during a tornado …a Kansas community is offered a million dollar storm shelter the money is from a federal grant. But Ellsworth County turned it down... despite a strong desire to build the shelter at the local hospital. Ellsworth county commission member Albert Oller says he's all for a safe place during storms...just not one with a hefty price tag "It’s like if you need a car and someone gives you a Hummer and gas is four dollars a gallon, it might not be that good of a gift.

Many residents of the Cottonwood Grove mobile home park came to a community storm shelter Saturday. When the storm passed, they came out and saw what was left. A tree collapsed, crushing a car. A trailer flipped completely over, shingles ripped from roofs. Storm Damage Photos Residents say they helped each other clear debris and throw away trash. "It just did too much damage all through here, so, lucky, luckier than some people," said resident Sue Hines.

Technological innovation will play a major role at Dodge City Community College. As part of a 21st century approach, college officials are implementing new programs. This year, the college launched the iPad incentive, but it won't stop there. In the works is a mobile classroom that will broadcast transmission line training around the state and application of robotics to the current computer courses. College officials also addressed topics like, agriculture learning, where the storm shelter stands, and campus renovations.

The potential of severe weather is forcing some schools to change their plans for prom.  Maize, Goddard and Valley Center are already taking precautions. Maize Due to the significant threat of severe weather in our area for Saturday evening, both the dance and the After Prom activities will be moved to Maize South Middle School, located at 3403 North Tyler Road. The Cotillion has no storm shelter available. Maize South Middle has a FEMA storm shelter and there is enough space for students.

They have been watching the construction begin, and some students at a Park City school got to talk to the designers. Bond issue work is underway at Chisholm Trail Elementary School, which is part of the Wichita School District. Tuesday the designers behind the expansion came to the school to show students the plans and answer any questions. "We want them to feel like this is their school," said principal Tammy Alexander. "We want them to know about it and feel attached to it and they also go home and tell their parents, which helps our community be more involved in understanding what is going on out here".

A ribbon cutting begins a new era in housing for the Mulvane area.  A new senior affordable housing property is now officially open. It provides 40-housing units for seniors. And it's the first ever financed by the federal government to meet "super green" energy standards. For residents like Patty Ingram, it also offers her first ever storm shelter. It's right in her laundry room, all concrete with a steel door. "It gives you a sense of relief for when you see the storm clouds rolling in. " Patty has lived here for six weeks.

When the tornado sirens went off some people in Wichita's Plainview neighborhood, where the homes are inexpensively built, say they had nowhere safe to go. "When (the sirens) go off, these people scatter in every direction," Plainview resident Dennis Clark says. But it's a very different story fifty miles east in the Butler County town of Beaumont, where everybody has a key to the town's storm shelter. "It's very important," Beaumont resident Willard French says.  "Most of these places don't have a basement.

Confusion may be the best way to explain it.     Last year Mulvane passed a $12.5 million bond issue to focus on safety and security. The concern started after a post on Facebook that said money for a FEMA approved storm shelter was taken out of the budget. “I did see it on Facebook,” says parent Samatha Saville. “I heard the rumor about storm shelters on Facebook yesterday,” says parent Tina Faught. The post raised concerns about the district possibly scrapping plans to build a FEMA approved storm shelter.  Now the district is explaining exactly what students at Munson Primary School in Mulvane will have by the time they return next fall.

It is severe weather awareness week in Kansas. This is a good time to get your emergency kits ready, and put plans in place in case bad storms hit your area. "The bedroom ceiling and roof had come off, I had a satellite dish and fan sitting in the middle of my bed," said Pinaire mobile home park resident Charlie Wyatt. Wyatt survived a tornado in Oaklawn. Now she and many other residents are thinking about this season of storms "I had a double wide out here before and it split it right down the middle and it moved it over 6 feet," Wyatt said.

Update:  Voters in the Chaparral High School district vote down a $5 million bond issue.  The issue lost by 38 votes. Voters were asked to support a bond issue to build a new practice gymnasium that would double as a storm shelter.  School officials hoped recent storms in the area would help gather support. The issue failed with 483 people voting no and 445 voting yes. ------------------------------------------------------------------ January 21, 2013 Twice last year there were big storm scares at Chaparral High School--once during prom, the other during graduation.

The Kinsley-Offerle school district will move forward with improvements after voters in Edwards County approve a bond issue. The $5.9 million dollar project includes a new gym, more parking and more classrooms at Kinsley High School and Kinsley Middle School. The new gym will also be a community storm shelter. District officials say the improvements are necessary. "We really haven't had a lot of new things come in, and if you look at our neighbors from the south and east of us, they have all approved bond issues or had a new school built," said superintendent Bob Davies.

Technological innovation will play a major role at Dodge City Community College. As part of a 21st century approach, college officials are implementing new programs. This year, the college launched the iPad incentive, but it won't stop there. In the works is a mobile classroom that will broadcast transmission line training around the state and application of robotics to the current computer courses. College officials also addressed topics like, agriculture learning, where the storm shelter stands, and campus renovations.

A ribbon cutting begins a new era in housing for the Mulvane area.  A new senior affordable housing property is now officially open. It provides 40-housing units for seniors. And it's the first ever financed by the federal government to meet "super green" energy standards. For residents like Patty Ingram, it also offers her first ever storm shelter. It's right in her laundry room, all concrete with a steel door. "It gives you a sense of relief for when you see the storm clouds rolling in. " Patty has lived here for six weeks.

No one will soon forget the night of nearly a hundred tornadoes. Clean-up still continues in Wichita and across the state.  There were no deaths in Kansas April 14th.  Experts say that's mainly because people had plenty of warning and found a safe place. Since the stormy night, shelter builders have seen a spike in business.  Dale Zogleman of Protection Shelters says the volume of calls and emails he received the first week was "insane". "People that were on the fence have decided we need to something because everybody deserves a safe place to go," Zogleman said.

When the tornado sirens went off some people in Wichita's Plainview neighborhood, where the homes are inexpensively built, say they had nowhere safe to go. "When (the sirens) go off, these people scatter in every direction," Plainview resident Dennis Clark says. But it's a very different story fifty miles east in the Butler County town of Beaumont, where everybody has a key to the town's storm shelter. "It's very important," Beaumont resident Willard French says.  "Most of these places don't have a basement.

Many residents of the Cottonwood Grove mobile home park came to a community storm shelter Saturday. When the storm passed, they came out and saw what was left. A tree collapsed, crushing a car. A trailer flipped completely over, shingles ripped from roofs. Storm Damage Photos Residents say they helped each other clear debris and throw away trash. "It just did too much damage all through here, so, lucky, luckier than some people," said resident Sue Hines.

As tornadoes bore down on central Kansas Saturday night, students from Trinity Academy, a Wichita high school, were preparing for their prom. But the group of 90 juniors and seniors soon had to move to a storm shelter, trying to make the best of a stormy night. Click here to read the full story from CBS News. Prom in storm shelter