![]() Inside the reinforced room, they were unhurt. The roof of their neighbor's home came crashing through their kitchen, and it probably would have killed them. Last May, Debbie and Darrell Nichols hunched inside their safe room in the garage as soon as the tornado sirens began blaring. In Joplin, the state's preference for community shelters leaves residents to pay for safe rooms out of pocket. Above-ground residential safe room that was in the garage of a home hit by an EF5 tornado (Joplin, MO). Since 2009, nearly 16,000 people in Arkansas have received rebates of up to $1,000 to add residential safe rooms. "I don't know how many have been put in Smithville, but it seems like every house has one," Renee Seales said. They built a dome-shaped bunker buried in their yard. That was more requests than the program's $8 million could fund.Īmong those who received money were Renee and Larry Seales of Smithville, Miss., where 16 people died in a 2011 twister, including both of Renee's parents. ![]() No one was hurt.įollowing the 2011 tornadoes, nearly 6,200 applications were submitted to Mississippi's "A Safe Place to Go" program, which also uses FEMA funds. In January, more than 50 people sought safety in a dome-shaped public shelter as a tornado ripped through Maplesville, Ala. "If you have the opportunity to put something in your house, that's what we would encourage folks to do." "I wouldn't get my family into a car and run that risk," Joplin Assistant City Manager Sam Anselm said. Joplins premier provider of concrete & steel, above or below ground units meeting FEMA 320/361 and IC-500. Even with improvements in twister prediction, venturing out into a rapidly brewing storm is perilous. The downside of public shelters is getting there. Missouri's choice spotlights a debate in states seeking better tornado protection: Is disaster aid better spent on safe rooms in individual homes or on larger public shelters designed to protect hundreds or thousands of people? Twister Safe's spike in business is even more impressive in Missouri, which does not offer grant money for safe rooms, opting to use its share of federal disaster money for community shelters. "We're selling 400 to 500 a year now, compared to maybe 100 before." “Right when I shut the door, put the pin in and sat down in the chair, I could hear my roof leaving."Business has probably quadrupled, at least," owner Enos Davis said. Multi-use: Also used as a quick-to-access 'panic room' that locks quickly from the inside with 3 inside. ![]() He had just enough time to dash across the street to warn neighbors then grab his dog and hurry inside the safe room. Water heater or flooding: Most water heaters are located in garages-should a tornado strike, it could flood a floor shelter with scalding water in some instances, flood waters accompany tornadoes and could flood the below ground shelter. Just before his TV went dark, he learned that a monster twister was headed his way. Noirfalise was home alone when the tornado sirens sounded. “I’ll never say a bad word about it again.” The steel box-actually a tornado safe room-may have saved his life. Noirfalise stopped cursing the box after May 22, the day a huge tornado destroyed thousands of buildings and claimed more than 150 lives in Joplin. The box shared space with a pickup, a car and a workshop where he built radio-controlled model airplanes, making for a crowded garage. Mitigation Matters: Safe Room in Joplin, Missouri FEMA 41. It was there when he and his wife, Brenda, bought the house a couple years ago. If Community Safe Rooms open before a Tornado Warning, or before tornado sirens sound, notification will be posted on the district's Facebook page (click here for a helpful map). – Harold Noirfalise used to curse the big steel box in the garage of his Joplin home. The deadliest tornado in Missouris history occurred on May 22, 2011, when an EF5 tornado hit Joplin, killing 158 people and causing 2.8 billion in damages. The following Community Safe Rooms are available to the community during a Tornado Warning, and/or when the tornado sirens have sounded. As communities pick up the pieces, builders and homeowners take a closer look at safe rooms. Joplin Schools remind area residents that community safe rooms will be open throughout the district in the case of tornado warnings or when. ![]()
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