Evacuation drill prepares Houston County for upcoming school year

HOUSTON COUNTY, Ala. (WTVY) - Several districts across the Wiregrass are stepping up security measures ahead of the 2022-2023 school year.

This includes practicing drills in case of an emergency situation.

Two Houston County Schools executed an evacuation drill Thursday morning.

Several busses from Ashford and Houston County High Schools were escorted by law enforcement to a “reunification center,” a safe place where students would be united with parents.

That was the Houston County Career Academy in this instance.

A real school evacuation could occur for several reasons, such as a bomb threat.

The main purpose of the drill was simple: to be prepared.

“It’s just like a ball game; you want to practice like you play,” explains Chris Judah, Director of Dothan-Houston County EMA. “You want to make sure that everything is up to date, you want to make sure that all the players that are involved know their procedures, their policies, and it those individuals can’t be there that day, then we have somebody to fill in the spots and that they know what to do as well. So, we’re testing all the variables that go along with it.”

Judah says this is not a new drill for the county, but an improved one.

An “after-action” report will follow Thursday’s drill for officials to cover what worked and what can still be tweaked.

Houston County students start back on Tuesday.

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