Safe Rooms Increase Survival Rates in Tornados
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 12:50 pm
Safe Rooms Increase Survival Rates in Tornados
Friday, March 26, 2004
TULSA — Now that tornado season is here, thousands of families in the heart of Oklahoma’s Tornado Alley (search) have built storm-safe rooms onto their houses.
The “safe rooms,” or storm shelters, are aboveground concrete bunkers designed to withstand winds in excess of 250 miles per hour. A typical safe room has steel-plating and a 300-pound door.
The tornado shelters cost about $4,000 to install, but the result is priceless — since the safe rooms are still standing even when the rest of the house is leveled by a twister.
The National Weather Service (search) reports that 1,200 tornados touch down in the United States each year, killing an average of 70 people and injuring about 1,500.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (search) spent $50 million over the past few years to fund safe rooms in schools and homes, saying engineered and tested shelters will dramatically increase the rate of survival during tornados.
Now the twister bunkers have become the blueprint standard in places like Tornado Alley for severe weather home safety.
© Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 ComStock, Inc.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright 2004 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
All market data delayed 20 minutes. ÿ
Friday, March 26, 2004
TULSA — Now that tornado season is here, thousands of families in the heart of Oklahoma’s Tornado Alley (search) have built storm-safe rooms onto their houses.
The “safe rooms,” or storm shelters, are aboveground concrete bunkers designed to withstand winds in excess of 250 miles per hour. A typical safe room has steel-plating and a 300-pound door.
The tornado shelters cost about $4,000 to install, but the result is priceless — since the safe rooms are still standing even when the rest of the house is leveled by a twister.
The National Weather Service (search) reports that 1,200 tornados touch down in the United States each year, killing an average of 70 people and injuring about 1,500.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (search) spent $50 million over the past few years to fund safe rooms in schools and homes, saying engineered and tested shelters will dramatically increase the rate of survival during tornados.
Now the twister bunkers have become the blueprint standard in places like Tornado Alley for severe weather home safety.
© Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 ComStock, Inc.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright 2004 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
All market data delayed 20 minutes. ÿ