Catoosa Public Schools Opens Up Tornado Shelter To Public

People in Catoosa have a new place to take cover during severe weather. The school board just decided to open its middle school dome cafeteria as a community storm shelter.

People who live nearby are excited about the new option.

The cafeteria at Wells Middle School can hold up to 500 people, making it a perfect space for folks from the community to come to during severe weather.

Riding out a severe Oklahoma storm in a mobile home can be an intense experience.

"Oh it's very scary, especially with 4 kids it gets really scary," said Anay Palacios.

That's why she takes her family to the closest storm shelter at Pine Creek Estates in Catoosa.

"It's really not that big, and it gets really crowded, so just right there, whoever fits there, we go there," she said.

She says that works in a pinch, but she's excited about a new option, just a stone’s throw away from the mobile home park.

"We felt like we needed to help our community have a safe place during inclement weather," said Catoosa School's Assistant Superintendent Timothy Ray.

Ray says this unique dome building was the answer to that community's need. It's always been a safe space for students to go during storms, but now it's open to anyone, AS long as it's outside school hours.

"When we know that there's a predicted tornado watch coming, we can communicate that to our community and our people when school's not in session and let them know this is a place they can come to," said Ray.

He says this is not the place to come when tornado sirens are already going off, but he knows it will be useful when folks have a heads-up about dangerous weather.

"This helps out a lot it's somewhere safer that we can go with kids and stuff ... I feel way better because of that," said Palacios.

The school will use its Facebook page, school website, and their Thrillshare app to let people know when they can use the building.

School leaders say this building is already good to go for the next round of inclement weather that comes through Oklahoma, they say it will be staffed to make sure things go smoothly.