Union School Leaders Discuss Severe Weather Safety During Outdoor Track Meets

Hundreds of students were at a track meet at Union High School Thursday and with the threat of severe weather, school leaders say they were ready to act fast if the weather turned.

Union says they stay in constant contact with the National Weather Service and they have lightning detection systems, so when lightning gets close to the track, they immediately get everyone inside.

Union school leaders say when it comes to track meets, they start looking at the weather days in advance and get updates hours before it starts.

They say the golden rule is that when lightning is 12 miles away, everything has to get shut down.

"As they moved through the area we just kept watching and the nice thing about the system we used has a countdown timer from zero to 12 so as that gets closer we can guesstimate what's still out there,” said Dan Newman, Head Athletic Trainer for Union Public Schools.

Parents say Union was on top of it when it came to letting them know what was happening and making sure their kids were safe.

"Union did a great job getting us all to a safe place, removing people immediately as soon as the lightning started,” said Ann-Marie Toberny, who is the parent of athletes from Muskogee High School. “We were getting ready, we felt it, and people got out of here quick."

"They handled it pretty well,” said Joseph Buford, who was there to watch his son compete for Pryor High School. “They got the kids inside, they waited for everything to pass. The parents, they could have went over to Sam's Club or somewhere else if they didn't want to just sit in their vehicle."

Coaches say in the springtime, with the potential threat of severe weather, it can be hard- because the kids have to stop and cool down and warm back up again to go compete.

"This is tornado alley, so with tornadoes and bad weather, we're used to it, but as long as the kids know, the parents know, that they're safe, it's usually ok,” said Steve Parker, the Head Track Coach at Owasso High School.

Union says they always pay attention to the weather for outdoor sports, but, even more so, when we hit tornado season.

"The health and safety of our student athletes is paramount and it's always at the forefront,” said Newman. “Weather is just that one other cog that at this time of year, you have to worry about."

Union did move this meet up a few hours today to try to get in as much of it in before the rain started.