FEMA brings 'safe room' tour to Jackson

For the 22 families in Jackson who lost homes on May 6 to tornadoes, federal officials are in town for a few days this week to ask them to consider one potentially life-saving change as they rebuild -- adding a safe room.

In fact, officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency hopes everyone will build a so-called steel reinforced "safe room" where family members can go when severe weather hits.

They'll even show people how. FEMA officials are in Jackson today and Wednesday with an example of an 8-foot square steel safe room that they say can withstand 250 mph winds and 100 mph projectiles. That's about the force of an F-5 tornado, the highest classification.

The safe room is on display in the parking lot of Fred's Discount Store from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Wednesday. In addition to free tours, brochures and other literature are available.

'It's not like the movies'

Building a safe room does not have to be especially complicated, like the high-tech version that was featured in the film "Panic Room," said FEMA spokesman Zach Kittrie.

"It's not like the movies," Kittrie said. "These can be converted pantries or used as bathrooms. It's just another way people can be safe."

There are several variations on the layout of the rooms, which can be built with steel and plywood, with poured concrete or with cinder blocks. It can be built into a house, above ground or below, or made as a free-standing structure.

The room on display, transported on the back of a tractor-trailer, was constructed with 14-gauge steel and two sheets of 3/4-inch plywood. It is held together by metal hurricane clamps and is bolted to a concrete slab.

The safe room's door is also built with 14-gauge steel, opens inward and has three deadbolt locks.

"It's really about the sense of security people should have," Kittrie said. "It's peace of mind. Certainly, in different parts of Missouri, there was loss of life to severe weather. In future storms, ideally, there would be no loss of life."

With poor weather and no publicity, few people visited the safe room Monday afternoon.

But Stephanie and Perry Marler of Murphysboro, Ill., noticed the display and stopped in to take a look. They like the idea of having a safe room and said they are considering building one.

"We don't have a basement, so every time the weather gets bad, we have to go to a friend's house," Stephanie Marler said. "We want to be able to stay at home, and we have a daughter who is just freaked out by tornadoes."

At first they were concerned about the cost, but they were told that safe rooms can cost as little as $2,000 if they can do some of the work themselves.

"People think they're real elaborate, but they're not," said Larry Gaston, a FEMA mitigation counselor who was at the site Monday. "It can be a simple but sturdy place people can go and be safe."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

On the Net:

FEMA safe rooms: www.fema.gov/mit/saferoom