At 2:56 p.m. CDT, an EF5 tornado with wind speeds above 200 miles per hour began ripping through the town of Moore, Oklahoma. As the storm tore through neighborhoods and schools, it only grew stronger. At its strongest, it had winds peaking at around 210 miles per hour and was over a mile wide. In total, it took 24 lives, 7 of those being children inside Plaza Towers Elementary School. It lasted 39 minutes and traveled almost 14 miles. Then, at 3:35 p.m. CDT, it dissipated, leaving a trail of destruction and great loss behind.
Moore, Oklahoma, Plaza Towers Elementary School, and society as a whole failed those seven children that day. Those kids needed our help. They needed a safe room. They needed society to take these sorts of situations seriously so that in the event of such a disaster they could be prepared and sheltered. But there was no storm shelter. There was no safe room the children and teachers of Plaza Towers Elementary School could take shelter in. We as a community did not take the situation seriously. And because of our lack of seriousness, seven innocent children, all of the age or under the age of 9, lost their lives that day. And many more were left physically and emotionally injured.
It was later discovered that the construction of the third-grade hall was flawed. The rebar in the “reinforced” cinder block walls was not long enough. Because of this flawed construction, which was most likely encouraged to cut down on construction costs, the rebar did not properly reinforce the walls. However in the end, it cost them more than any amount of money ever could; it cost human life.
In the photo below, in the bottom right-hand corner, is what was left of the third-grade hall. It was in that building that Antonia Candelaria, Christopher Legg, Emily Conatzer, Ja’Nae Hornsby, Kyle Davis, Nicolas McCabe, and Syndey Angle, all seven victims of the May 20th, 2013 tornado at Plaza Towers Elementary School, passed away simply because the only thing that stood between them and the storm outside was poorly constructed cinder block walls.
Parents have a right to know that their children will be safe and in good hands when they drop them off at school. But on May 20th, 2013, Plaza Towers Elementary School failed to do so. Their children were not safe. They were not in good hands, instead they were in a poorly and cheaply built school with no shelter to ensure their safety. All the promises that Plaza Towers Elementary School made to those parents that day, that their children would be safe, were not kept. In the end, Moore, Oklahoma learned their lesson. And as the bits of cinder block and steel of what was once a building filled with laughter, learning, and friendship were cleared, a new building rose from the rubble. Plaza Towers Elementary School was rebuilt in 2014, this time with tornado shelters in place. However, it was too late. No amount of storm shelters could undo what had already been done.
Time went on. The school was rebuilt, seven memorials were constructed in front of the newly built school, and storm shelters were implemented into the school for the first time. Moore, Oklahoma had learned their lesson. Even if it cost so much, at least they learned their lesson. The same can unfortunately not be said for most other schools in Oklahoma. Eleven years have passed and most schools in the state still lack basic storm shelters designed to withstand the wind speeds such as the ones on May 20th, 2013. However, this was not just a lesson for the state of Oklahoma, but it was a lesson for the entire country.
While tornadoes are rare, and the likelihood of a tornado directly hitting a school is even rarer, it can happen and has happened. Therefore, it is crucial that schools take the situation seriously and have some safety plan in place that effectively ensures the student’s safety. Because not taking the problem seriously can have detrimental consequences. While some schools, including Wylie High School, have effective severe weather plans and are prepared for such events, most continue to do the bare minimum to “protect” their students. Most continue to shelter students in interior hallways crouched down with books over their heads even though it has been proven by real-world evidence that is not enough. There is a difference between doing something that will effectively ensure a student’s safety, and doing something to bring ease to students. And sadly most schools’ severe weather plans are only in place to bring ease to students or to check a box on a list, rather than to ensure a student’s well-being. In summary, it cost the lives of seven children for the town of Moore, Oklahoma to learn, what will it cost for everyone else?
In memory of Antonia Candelaria, Christopher Legg, Emily Conatzer, Ja’Nae Hornsby, Kyle Davis, Nicolas McCabe, Syndey Angle, and all 24 victims of the EF5 tornado on May 20th, 2013.
