Former Henryville principal offers advice on how western Kentucky schools can help tornado victims

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The western Kentucky tornado outbreak brought a flashback for tornado victims in southern Indiana.

Last week, tornadoes cut a 200-mile path through the commonwealth leaving 77 people dead and thousands of homes destroyed.

A twister similar in strength -- EF-4 cut a path of destruction on March 2nd 2012, making direct impact with a Henryville school.

"My heart bled for those communities because I know how hard it was," former Henryville junior/senior high school principal Troy Albert said. "You're just praying and hoping that everybody survives."

Albert sheltered in his office with other 30 people during the tornado as winds reached 170 miles per hour. Part of the school building was brought to the ground while homes in the surrounding community were destroyed.

It taught Albert tangible lessons he believes school districts in the 21 Kentucky counties with tornado damage can use.

IMAGES | Tornadoes devastate dozens of cities in western Kentucky

Stabilize your students by finding out who's been displaced and help the family find housing. Bring counseling to the classroom to address the trauma and adjust your curriculum.

"Our students couldn't have homework because we didn't know where they were going to do it," Albert said. "We tried to focus in on what we could get accomplished in the school day."

Henryville had kids in temporary classes in four weeks and the school rebuilt in five months. It's a success story Albert now shares as a FEMA trained disaster responder. He goes into communities hit with the unthinkable to help schools with the logistics of recovery for both buildings and the families.

"I was on the ground in Panama City Beach after the hurricane and in Beaumont, Texas after flooding," Albert said.

Albert, now principal at Salem High School says he's planning to host a fundraiser with students and take a trip to Mayfield in February. The delay is due in part to something else he learned in the Henryville disaster. He says the mass amount of attention and assistance will fade but months later the community will still have needs.

Schools in western Kentucky didn't suffer the kind of structural damage they did in Henryville, but more families were impacted.

Taylor County Schools returned to class this week, but other school districts like Grayson County Schools and Mayfield Independent Schools have canceled classes until at least the beginning of January.

The former principal believes schools in western Kentucky will be able to pass the test to teach students in alternative ways.

"In a small town, the school is the center of the entire community," Albert said. "It's the heart, it's the soul."

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