Henryville principal reflects on tornado’s 5th anniversary
CLARK COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) – Thursday marked the fifth anniversary of a day that would change a small Indiana community’s history.
On the afternoon of March 2, 2012, an EF4 tornado ripped through Henryville as part of a severe weather outbreak that took 13 lives across the southern portion of the state.
Many of the community’s homes and buildings were destroyed, including portions of the junior/senior high school.
The school’s security cameras captured the destruction of its gymnasium when it took a direct hit.
The school’s principal, Troy Albert, said significant warning ahead of the storm allowed for his team of leaders to make decisions that would protect students and staff from injury or death.
While Albert said the school’s agenda on the anniversary would not be out of the ordinary, there has not been a day go by when he does not think about the actions and happenings of that day.
“I focus a lot of times on how to be prepared and how to get my families prepared and make sure that everybody I care about; the students and the staff are all safe each day. I think that’s a tribute to being able to say that I’m standing in a building that was not very good after March 2,” Albert said while in the rebuilt gymnasium.
The present day seniors at the school were in 7th grade when the tornado hit. Albert said the school community would be focused on ISTEP testing and business as usual on Thursday.