Why would you say “below ground is not an option for schools?” They could build rows of in-ground shelters on the school grounds that are separate from the main building. For younger children that can’t be expected to evacuate safely in rain to external shelters, there could be individual shelters in the classrooms themselves. They could be something similar to ones used in garages.
My daughter’s elementary school has over 400 children. My son’s high school has 3000 students. Since these in ground shelters can hold about 12-14 students, where do you propose to put 40 to 200 of these 6’x3’ rectangles? You would need a football field and unfortunately, most schools don’t have the space.
Mistakes are always going to be made in pressure situations like this. We learned a lot after the May 3rd, 1999 tornado that has saved hundreds of lives since and probably saved hundreds of lives yesterday. Hopefully, we learn more from this, that will continue to minimize the risk associated with living in OK this time of year. It’s just that today is not the day for armchair qb’s. Emotions are too high to be reasonable and constructive.