FEMA and NOAA recommend a specially built interior room to guard against the deadly forces of tornadoes.
What Is a Hardened Safe Room?
A hardened safe room is a shelter built in the interior of a home or underground to protect the occupants from strong storm winds such as a tornado.
Where Should Safe Rooms Be Located?
Safe rooms are generally first recommended for tornadoes rather than hurricanes, because often in a hurricane the best first defense is to leave the affected area before the storm approaches. With a tornado, that is not usually possible. Tornadoes arise with very little warning and their paths are uncertain, making it hard for someone to know where to flee to.
A tornado safe room should be located in the basement, if there is one, or otherwise on the first floor of a house near its center, away from exterior walls and windows. Safe roooms in general should be built when the house is built: Retrofitting your space for a safe room requires certain specifications and can be costly if the elements are not already in place.
Safe rooms should not be built over crawlspaces, because the wind can easily funnel under the crawlspace and make the room above it mobile. The slab underneath an already-standing house is probably not suitable either; it would have to be thickened, which can be very costly. Basement walls need to have steel reinforcement. Often, with an existing home, a buried shelter on the property is a better choice.
NOAA has construction plans and cost estimates for building a safe room.
What Does a Safe Room Need?
A hardened safe room is one in which all surfaces are reinforced concrete. There should be no windows or exterior walls, and the door requires special consideration, as it will be the most vulnerable part of the structure. Inside the shelter should be a first aid kit and an emergency supply kit, with items such as food, bottled water, medications, a radio, flashlight, batteries, and toys or other distractions for children.
Who Needs a Hardened Safe Room?
Every individual needs to assess the threat of tornadoes or hurricanes in their area. (Remember that your best choice in a hurricane is evacuation, and that a safe room for hurricane locations cannot be below storm surge level.) Tornado-prone areas, especially in the region of the United States known as tornado alley, should have these types of tornado shelters. Homes are not the only places that could benefit from a shelter, but schools, churches, places of work, and other locations where people may be gathered.
Is Taking Shelter in the Basement Good Enough?
In many cases, taking shelter in the basement is the best option. A hardened safe room is a better choice, however. While many lives have been saved when people retreated to their basements as a tornado approached, there have also been some fatalities. In once instance, a chimney toppled onto a man in his basement as the tornado tore through. On another occasion, a couple was swept out of their home as the tornado sucked every item from the basement except for the water heater. So while a basement is a good line of defense when a tornado strikes, a hardened safe room is the best option.
