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Most successful community shelter projects integrate three streams—grants, financing, and local contributions—into a single budget. The reason? Federal mitigation grants rarely cover 100 percent. Loans and bonds cover gaps and timing. Local dollars can unlock the grant match and keep the project moving, so you aren’t waiting through another storm season while paperwork sits on…

When it comes to measuring the intensity of tornadoes, you may have seen an “F5 tornado” referenced or an “EF5 tornado.” So, what is the difference, or are they essentially the same? Let’s take a closer look.The F and the EF reference the Fujita scale and the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF scale).  Both of these scales…

The statement in the headline of this post is correct, despite the belief of many that the best place to be in a tornado is underground. In fact, it has been known for some time that above-ground storm shelters are a safe and cost-effective storm shelter solution for homeowners to survive an EF5 tornado.According to a research paper…

If your company is in the market for a tornado shelter, chances are, you’ll want to get multiple quotes and find out what’s available before making your purchase.If you’re a small company with few employees, that might be an easy task; in fact, you might not even need a large commercial tornado shelter. In that…

In 1998, FEMA published a guide called “Taking Shelter From the Storm.” The publication, currently in its Fifth Edition, includes construction plans and specifications for building a storm shelter safe room for your home. It is officially called FEMA P-320, but is most commonly referred to as FEMA 320.The tornado shelter construction plans are still…

Most of the time, when we think of tornadoes, we think of deafening thunder, crashing hailstones, and, sometimes, green skies. (These are supercell tornadoes.) But, with a certain type of tornado – those caused by hurricanes – none of that is the case. Hurricanes and tornadoes have a complex relationship. Some hurricanes produce few or…

Before you buy a tornado shelter, there’s one fundamental question that you must know the answer to, “How many people do I need to protect?” Which may lead you to ask, “How do I determine what size tornado shelter to buy?”How many people will be in your tornado shelter?When the shelter is for your home,…