Details on disaster drills, precautions shared for worst-case scenario

It's the sort of thing that might make a good Hollywood plot. A tornado touches down in December, weaves its way toward town, and then—just in time—swerves out of the countryside and into the way of impending catastrophe.

That's Hollywood. But what about real life? What if—as bad as it was—the twister of December 15 had taken a slightly different path, just a few yards to the west? Weather can be random like that, after all.

In such a case-which did not take place- it would have come head on with a multi-story, several unit enclosed space with high density residential buildings—the cellblocks of the Stanley Prison, with hundreds of people and no basement option.

The story of what the response might have looked like is anything but Hollywood, though we did get some details from John Beard, Di –

ing through this field on its way uptown. Had it followed the same path just three footballs fields east, it would have hit the entrance to the prison, dead on. Photo by Joseph Back.

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rector of Communications with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. This is what he had to say on the matter.

"The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) con – ducts tornado drills at its facilities," Beard said. "Much depends on proximity to the tornado and amount of warning time, but the main reaction is to shelter in place. Typically, when severe weather is coming into the area, all people in our care at Stanley would return to their living unit and shelter there until the weath- er passes." Regarding the term "people in our care," Beard said this re – flects a current administration commitment to using "person-first' language, emphasizing personhood rather than dehumanizing someone.

"It's not mandated or laid out in policy, but it is something modeled by DOC Sec. Kevin Carr and DOC leadership," he said of the person-first priority.

Back to the logistics of preparing for severe weather. What else might be known of how things would have gone, had the tornado taken a different path?

"It is difficult to speculate," Beard said. "It would depend on what kind of damage the facility would have received. Stanley staff would certainly be involved in coordinating any response." With concrete walls eight inches thick, there might at least be some protection if the tornado had hit the prison directly as opposed to passing close by. But can anything be known for certain with regard to December 15 at Stanley Correctional?

“Just that there was little to no disruption at the facility in this case, thankfully," Beard said.

Aftermath from the December storm, in Soo Line park. Photo by Joseph Back.