Taking Shelter from the Storm
Every year, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme windstorms injure and kill
people, and damage millions of dollars worth of property in the United States.
Even so, more and more people build houses in tornado- and hurricane-prone
areas each year, possibly putting themselves into the path of such storms.
Having a shelter, or a safe room, built into your house can help you protect
yourself and your family from injury or death caused by the dangerous forces of
extreme winds. It can also relieve some of the anxiety created by the threat of
an oncoming tornado or hurricane.
Should you consider building a shelter in your house to protect yourself and
your family during a tornado or hurricane? The answer depends on your answers
to many questions, including:
-
Do you live in a high-risk area?
-
How quickly can you reach safe shelter during extreme winds?
-
What level of safety do you want to provide?
-
What is the cost of a shelter?
This booklet will help you answer these and other questions so you can decide
how best to protect yourself and your family. It includes the results of
research that has been underway for more than 20 years, by Texas Tech
University's Wind Engineering Research Center (WERC) and other wind engineering
research facilities, on the effects of extreme winds on buildings.
This booklet also provides shelter designs that will show you and your
builder/contractor how to construct a shelter underneath a new house, in the
basement of a new house, or in an interior room of a new house, or how to
modify an existing house to add a shelter in one of these areas. These shelters
are designed to protect you and your family from the high winds expected during
tornadoes and hurricanes and from Flying debris, such as wood studs, that
tornadoes and hurricanes usually create. The National Association of Home
Builders (NAHB) Research Center has evaluated these designs for construction
methods, materials, and costs. Engineers at Texas Tech University have conÞrmed
the design requirements for the expected forces from wind pressure and the
impact of typical ßying debris. The shelters are designed with life safety as
the primary consideration.
Did you Know...
. Almost every state in the United States is subject to hurricanes, tornadoes,
or both. These extreme windstorms can cause extensive damage to buildings, and
they threaten the lives of building occupants.
.FEMA, in cooperation with the Wind Engineering Research Center of Texas Tech
University, has developed designs for wind shelters that homeowners can build
inside their houses.
.These shelters are designed to provide protection from the forces of extreme
winds as high as 250 mph, including the impact of windborne debris.
.FEMA has prepared
Taking Shelter From the Storm: Building a Safe Room Inside
Your House for homeowners and builders. The booklet includes:
-
A homeowner risk assessment worksheet
-
Guidance for selecting a shelter design
-
Detailed construction plans for builders and contractors
-
Cost estimates
Want To Learn More?
Taking Shelter From the Storm: Building a Safe Room Inside Your House, FEMA
publication 320 (booklet and construction plans), is available from FEMA
Publications (1-888-565-3896). The booklet is also available on the FEMA
website. The worksheet helps homeowners determine their risk from extreme winds
and assists them in their consideration of a shelter. Detailed construction
plans provide all the information a builder or contractor needs to build a
shelter.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Mitigation Directorate
500 C Street, SW.
Washington, DC 20472
www.fema.gov