Cobb School Demonstrates Great Central U.S. ShakeOut

It didn't take long for the students in Brittany White's fourth grade class atto grasp the immediacy of FEMA's new "Drop, Cover and Hold On" technique in the event of an earthquake.

Within a second or two of a mock earthquake alarm, all 20 of her students had leapt from their chairs, scurried under their desk and held on for dear life as if expecting the roof to collapse.

"Did that even take two seconds?" said Todd Santos, a meteorlogist and host of Weekend Now on The Weather Channel, who led the students through the drill.

Milford Elementary was among hundreds of schools to participate in the largest earthquake drill ever in this part of the country as part of the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut. More than 100,000 people were expected to participate during the drill, which was scheduled at 10:15 a.m. today.

During the drill at Milford, representatives from GEMA, FEMA and the Weather Channel visited the school to demonstrate the proper "Drop, Cover and Hold On" technique.

In a somewhat ironic turn of events, FEMA Deputy Administrator Rich Serino was scheduled to be at the school. But due to emergency conditions caused by weather last night, his plane was redirected to South Carolina and could not make it to the school on time. Milford was one of three schools chosen in the region to host a top FEMA administrator.

Santos explained to the students that in the event of an earthquake, they only had seconds to respond. The Drop, Cover, Hold On drill teaches them to drop on the ground, take cover by getting under a sturdy desk or table and then hold on until the shaking stops.

The students quickly caught on to the concept, but they most enjoyed the visit from Rex the Mountain Lion who serves as the mascot for FEMA's Ready program.

To date, more than 2.7 million Americans have signed up to participate in the ShakeOut, including 2,016 schools, 82 colleges and universities and 268 businesses. or information, visit the Ready Georgia's ShakeOut site.