Public tornado shelters in Jonesboro and Craighead County

Craighead County Emergency Management keeps the official list of public tornado shelters: 28 shelters across eight towns, last updated February 9, 2026. They're run by school districts, city governments, and in one case the county itself. Below is that list, grouped by town, with the capacity the county gives where it lists one. Schools and cities can change their rules, so check the county's current list and call ahead before storm season.

The most important rules

• School shelters only open when students and staff aren't on campus. The county's list says so at the top. During the school day, those rooms are for the school.
• The county's own shelter opens on a watch. Craighead County Emergency Management Director Anthony Coy told KAIT in March 2026 that the Courthouse Annex shelter will open in the event of a tornado watch, because "waiting for a tornado warning is way too late."
• Capacity is finite. Several city shelters in the small towns hold 30 to 60 people.
• Leave early. The March 28, 2020 Jonesboro tornado was on the ground for about 16 minutes from touchdown to lifting (see Jonesboro tornado history). If you're going to a public shelter, go when the watch is issued, not when the sirens sound.

Jonesboro

Lake City

Monette

Bay, Black Oak, Bono, Brookland and Caraway

If you have a shelter at home: register it

The City of Jonesboro's E-911 center keeps a confidential storm shelter registry. The city says the information is used only by public safety personnel, so that after a storm, responders know where registered shelters are and who may be inside. Registering doesn't request service or dispatch anyone; it just puts your shelter on the map.

Why many families still want their own

A public shelter means getting the family dressed, in the car and across town before the weather arrives, and the school shelters aren't available during the school day. As Director Coy put it, "Not everybody has that ability to get into a personal shelter," which is why the public ones exist. If you can have one, a shelter in your garage or yard is seconds away, any hour. On the delta, where groundwater can rule out going underground, an above-ground safe room is often the better fit; on higher ground an underground or in-garage shelter works well. See what drives the cost, or call and we'll connect you with a licensed local installer.