Just How Safe is a Safe Room?

Strength test of prefab safe room.

Some storms can crush a home like a gingerbread house and blow the crumbs away.  A safe room can keep people from being injured when these storms blow through.  Scientists study the power and effects of storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes.  Mathematical models easily predict the strong forces and severe damage of debris that high winds cause.  Engineers have designed and tested a variety of plans for safe rooms that can be built in new construction, added to existing homes, or dropped in to either as prefabricated shelters.  Designed to withstand the effects of wind speed up to 250 mph, these rooms can be completes with simple supplies from your local lumberyard or professionally assembled from high-tech materials like concrete filled foam.  Either way, falling branches, flying debris, and sheer winds will not penetrate a properly planned and prepared safe room.

 Safe room from www.familyhandyman.com

Starting around $1500-3000,

Tuscaloosa Safe Room Survives EF-4 Tornado

Photo Credit: FEMA

William Blakeney grew up in Tuscaloosa County and is well aware of the effects of disasters in the area. In an effort to prepare for disasters like the tornadoes in mid and late April 2011, he built a safe room in his grandparents’ home. Although they weren’t home when the storms devastated the area, the only portion of their home left standing was the multipurpose safe room.

Blakeney and his construction company had built a few safe rooms in the past, mainly in their family members’ homes. While not built according to the design criteria of Federal Emergency Management Agency’s publication FEMA 320,Taking Shelter from the Storm: Building a Safe Room For Your Home or Small Business, this safe room was able to withstand the strong winds of the EF-4 tornado that ravaged the area.

FEMA 320 includes construction plans and cost estimates for building individual safe rooms. A safe room, built according to the standards outlined in FEMA 320, in a home or small business provides "near-absolute protection" for its occupants.

Alabama Family Takes Refuge from April Tornado in Safe Room

Pre-fabricated safe room Photo Credit: FEMA

When an EF-5 tornado struck the western part of Jefferson County, Alabama, near Birmingham, on April 8, 1998, Rebecca Henderson and her family had taken refuge under her mobile home. Damage to Henderson’s home was major. The front door and left side were gone. Yet, she considered herself lucky because the church next door was completely destroyed. The sight of the destruction convinced her that she needed a safe room.