![]() Rantz actually wrote a whole book about this called Hindsight: Lessons Learned from the Joplin Tornado. “I really think that had Joplin been in school that day that the story would have been a little different.” “But I think we saw what the possibility was if a tornado were to hit a community in general-just flatten out a community-and also what would happen if it hit a school during the school day,” Rantz says. Seeing the damage in Joplin changed Rantz’s perspective about what needed to be done in Nixa. If you can think of what that smells like, that’s the smell that comes to my head,” he said. It’s like fresh cut grass and natural gas. “When people talk about it I can still smell stuff, and it’s just the weirdest experience. Zac Rantz, the chief communications officer for the Nixa school district, went to Joplin after the tornado to assist in relief efforts. The tornado in Joplin caused not just the school district there but many around the state to reexamine safety procedures. The FEMA grants will pay for up to 75 percent of the project to build the shelter, and the school district or community must pay for the other 25 percent. To qualify, a community must have experienced a major disastrous event. “So this is a great benefit to them.”įEMA assists in funding the construction of safe rooms through either the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program or Pre-Disaster Mitigation Funds. “There are a lot of areas and they just can’t afford their own safe rooms within their garage or wherever,” Hounschell says. Jim Hounschell, director of safety and security at Joplin Public Schools, says prior to the tornado, there weren’t any safe rooms for either the students or the public. Joplin now has 14 total community safe rooms, with the newest one inside Columbia Elementary. According to the State Emergency Management Agency, 72 FEMA safe rooms were completed across the state between 2012 and February of this year. Kfor TV out of Oklahoma City did a great story on Joplin Schools and the new Irving Elementary School designed by Sapp Design Associates Architects.The number of Federal Emergency Management Agency safe rooms in Missouri has more than doubled since an EF5 tornado hit Joplin in 2011. Through the Hazardous Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) or the Pre-Disaster Mitigation program (PDM), FEMA funding for safe rooms can cover up to 75% of the cost of construction for a facility that will provide near absolute protection during an EF-5 tornado. When it comes to building these structures there is a premium in the cost, However FEMA has grants programs that can help pay for the construction of these safe rooms. ![]() The schools main Safe Room can hold well over 1000 people in event of a tornado, but on daily basis functions as the school main gym space featuring bright colors and even FEMA rated windows to provide natural light into the space. The new elementary school features 2safe room that can house the entire school population as well as anyone within a min walk to the schools. Recently we have been working with Joplin, Missouri school district’s new Irving Elementary School, which was destroyed by the devastating tornado. Our design team has designed safe rooms that serve as multipurpose gyms, classroom, cafeterias and community rooms. ![]() Since 2006 Sapp Design Associates Architects has taken a different approach by helping dozen of school districts and communities design their safe room as a multifunctional space that is incorporated into the daily functions of a school or community. While underground safe rooms do provide a safe place it is hard to effectively make the space serve a duel purpose and can actually cost more than an above ground structure. The Midwest is no stranger to tornados but unfortunately when most people think of a tornado shelter they typically think of an underground bunker used only during a storm. Tornado Safe Rooms can Protect Schools and Communities while serving a dual purposes as multipurpose gyms, classrooms, cafeterias and community rooms. Tornado Safe Rooms | Building Safer Schools ![]()
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