FEMA Offers Oklahomans Funds to Build ‘Safe Room’

Homeowners hit by Oklahoma’s deadly tornadoes in May will be offered federal money to build “safe rooms” that could have saved many of the 44 people killed in the storm, officials said Friday.

In a pilot safety program that could be extended to other parts of the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said it would reimburse homeowners for installing the shelters.

Safe rooms are concrete and steel chambers designed in the aftermath of Florida’s devastating Hurricane Andrew in 1992 to offer homeowners protection from gales and flying debris while still fitting into an average house.

Oklahoma is part of the U.S. “tornado alley” that stretches across much of the country’s heartland. However, the state’s difficult soil conditions mean most homes lack basements, leaving many people without a sturdy refuge from twisters.

Many of those killed and injured in the May storm were flung by winds or struck by flying debris that tore down or ripped through conventional walls and ceilings.

“We know that safe rooms save lives,” FEMA director James Lee Witt told a news conference.

“There are Oklahomans who survived the May 3 through 5 tornadoes because they had the foresight to build a safe room,” he said.

FEMA chose Oklahoma to launch the program because rebuilding is in full swing after a swarm of twisters destroyed or badly damaged some 4,000 private homes, the agency said in a statement.

The program offers to reimburse the owners of those houses up to $2,000 for the costs of installing a safe room, which can run from $2,000 to $8,000.

FEMA has $10 million for the project and plans to expand the offer to undamaged houses and other parts of the state depending on how much is claimed in the first phase.

Witt said he hoped to widen the program at a later date to other states prone to tornadoes or hurricanes, including Texas and Kansas.

“I have seen too many lives lost from natural disasters. It’s important that we rebuild now and rebuild safely,” Witt said.