EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
If a tornado were to threaten Evansville Regional Airport, the National Weather Service says the facility is prepared for the worst.
On Tuesday, the airport received its storm ready status.
Evansville Regional is one of only seven airports across the county, and the second in Indiana, to be award this storm ready status. That means the airport came up with a severe weather plan that meets the approval of the National Weather Service.
When an EF-4 tornado tore right through Lambert Field in St. Louis in April of last year, no one knew where to go. Airport employees are even seen running back and forth, trying to find a place to take cover.
"Having a higher level of readiness certainly could have helped, absolutely," said rick Shanklin with the National Weather Service.
Shanklin says that could have been as simple as alerting everyone at the airport of the storm quicker, and having a designated storm shelter where everyone should have been directed to go.
"You always go through that in your mind. What if and in our area?" said Beverly Poole with the National Weather Service.
In our part of the country, it very well could. If it does, meteorologists at the National Weather Service believe, a plan that's now in place at Evansville Regional Airport, is one of the best in the country.
"They do have a very solid, very effective and concise plan," Shanklin said.
"It's really nice to be recognized as one of seven airports in the whole country," said airport manager, Douglas Joest.
In coming up with their new plan, airport officials looked at the number of people inside the terminal at any given time to come up with a method of alerting everyone of the danger within seconds. Also, the airport now has a designated storm shelter in the basement, that everyone will be directed to once a warning is issued.
"It's just so reassuring to know that we have a solid plan here at Evansville," Poole said.
Only one other airport in Indiana, the Indianapolis Airport has storm ready status. For a more in-depth look at what it means to be a storm ready airport, click here.
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