Community Safe Room

The Community Safe Room at Columbia Elementary, 610 W. F St., is ready for use during tornado and dangerous high wind events.

The Community Safe Room is owned by Joplin Schools, and its first function is to provide protection for Columbia Elementary students and staff during tornado and extreme high wind events during school hours.
During and after school hours, the Safe Room will also be available to residents who do not have safe locations to take shelter such as a basement and who live within what we refer to as the “Tornado Protection Zone” (TPZ - see link to map below).
Columbia Elementary Special Needs Form

Tornado Protection Zone:

The TPZ represents a 1/4-mile radius around the school and a roughly five-minute or less walking distance to the Safe Room at Columbia Elementary.
Due to the estimated time necessary to safely reach the Safe Room after a weather warning has been issued and the Safe Room’s maximum capacity of 899 persons, including the student body and staff, the Safe Room is not designed to provide shelter for those who live beyond this protection zone.
Columbia Elementary TPZ map

Notification of Safe Room Opening:

Your official notification that the Safe Room is open will be through your NOAA weather radio.
The Safe Room will be opened when:
- The National Weather Service issues a tornado warning
- Tornado sirens are activated by the City of Joplin

If a weather warning is issued after school hours, a designated trained safe room supervisor will open the facility for the community and oversee the facility for the duration of the weather warning.

Questions?

Please call Columbia's Principal at (417) 625-5325