FEMA touts safe rooms; tornado victims skeptical

STOCKTON, Mo. -- Mike Campbell was skeptical the 8-foot square steel structure could have protected him and his family from the tornado that destroyed their home earlier this month.

"I just don't know about this," Campbell said as he examined the outer walls of the room on display Thursday at the Stockton Disaster Recovery Center. "I could poke my pocketknife through that."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency insists that he couldn't and Texas Tech University professor Ernst Kiesling says he couldn't fire a wooden 2-by-4 at the shelter at 100 mph and pierce the wall.

Kiesling and his staff at the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center have tested the shelter designs displayed by FEMA. There are several variations on the layout of the rooms, which can be built with three approved material combinations. They can be made from plywood and steel like the one Campbell was viewing, with poured concrete or with cinder blocks.

All of the designs have been tested to sustain winds up to 250 mph and to pass the 2-by-4 test.

"If the specifications are met, people are going to be safe," Kiesling said.

A team from FEMA is touring Missouri to display the shelter designs. After visits to the tornado-damaged communities of Carl Junction and Stockton, the shelter display was in Hillsboro on Friday. After a second day in Hillsboro today, it will head to Jackson and DeSoto next week, then to Canton the following week.

FEMA officials in Kansas are considering planning a similar tour, but have not yet completed a schedule.

Campbell and his wife, Brenda, aren't the only ones who don't believe the shelters will protect them. The Campbells survived the May 4 tornado in their basement.

"The first time they see this, they think it's just a wooden shack," said Diana Reagan, a hazard mitigation coordinator for FEMA. "They ask how this could possibly keep them safe. But it works. I've seen lots of areas hit by tornadoes and I've seen lots of debris. But I have also seen a lot of safe rooms still standing."

FEMA spokesman Jim Shebl said he had seen areas leveled by tornadoes in which the only thing left standing were the safe rooms. Shebl said people should not discount the idea of a safe room because they have a cellar.

"Whatever they have existing, they can make sure it meets the same requirements," Shebl said.

The refuges can be built above ground or below and can be built for $2,500 or less. More expensive varieties can cost up to $6,000. The shelters can be built to stand alone or incorporated into a house that is already built. They also can be designed into a blueprint for a new home.

FEMA offers plans for the shelters on its Web site and it also will provide a brochure with information on the materials used for contractors building schools, community centers and businesses.

Jim Donley, deputy federal coordinating officer for mitigation at FEMA, said schools in Wichita, Kan., have built safe rooms and the city of Bolivar is building a shelter at its community baseball field.

With or without the safe room, Brenda Campbell said she'd feel much safer underground. Her husband said he'd want to see the tests before he'd consider building a shelter.

"Set it up and let a car run into it at 60 miles per hour," he said. "If it's still standing, then I would be impressed."

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On the Net:

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

Wind Science and Engineering Research Center: www.wind.ttu.edu