Props & Pans: Southmoore's storm response leaves dress drenched, prom dreams dashed

Regarding the Southmoore Prom, April 23.

I have waited till now to let calmer heads prevail but find myself getting rather worked up again thinking about how the issues with the storms were handled. To put it bluntly, it was a total failure on whoever was running the event.

So many questions on this.

Why was a venue chosen at this time of year that had no safe place to adequately shelter everyone in place?

Why on earth was it decided at such a late moment, when the tornado sirens were sounding no less, to send the students and adults outside to transit to Brink and once they were there the storm shelter was not open and ready for them to enter? They stood outside in pouring rain, waiting, with a circulation passing in the area!

Of all places in Oklahoma, you would think that the Moore school district would have this all sorted out way ahead of time for a school sanctioned event. You realize there were students involved that still have issues with these storms due to previous encounters with tornadoes within the school system, right?

You realize, in hindsight, that sending these students out into the storm is a complete break in trust with these students, their parents and the community at large?

You realize that as you sent these students out into the storm, many of them appear to have fled toward home or another shelter and that in doing so may very well have headed right into the thick of the storm?

This was handled very poorly all the way around and as a concerned parent I think the individual or individuals that were supposed to keep our child protected would be adequately disciplined for this horrid lack of planning, judgment and breaking of the trust we had placed in them.

Our youngest daughter was supposed to be enjoying her senior prom, instead she and her friends were treated to unacceptable trauma that could have and should have been avoided.

She went back to the venue once it had all passed and tried to continue, but the damage was done and she just came home, dejected, disappointed and sad.

When she got home crying in a soaking wet prom dress, I told her, “Hey, you sure won’t forget your senior prom!” She was not amused, and neither am I.

— Chris Robinson, Moore

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Southmoore storm response leaves drenched prom dress, dashed dreams