Safety against storms is No. 1 in some areas

May 04, 2007|By Robert Sargent and Ramsey Campbell, Tribune Newspapers: The Orlando Sentinel

Sammy Hart built an ultrasecure closet in his home to save his most valuable possessions. It turns out his foresight probably saved his life.

He woke up during an early-morning rainstorm on Feb. 2. Television news was reporting dangerous weather approaching his rural Crow's Nest neighborhood in northeast Lake County, Fla.

Hart, a Lake County Sheriff's sergeant, grabbed his 19-year-old daughter and his dog as the power went out. They scrambled to the walk-in closet that Hart had constructed as a safe room with steel-reinforced concrete walls.

Around them, windows shattered and parts of the house fell apart. Gusts peeled the roof back and scattered pieces of the interior.

Then -- within a minute -- it was over.

"If we didn't have that safe room, we wouldn't have had anywhere to go," Hart said. "We might have died."

Experts say even the strongest homes can be torn apart by the fury of tornadoes, but safe rooms can keep you alive.

Hart's neighborhood was ravaged. Three neighbors died.

All told, the series of violent tornadoes that ripped through central Florida that morning killed 21 people.

It has been a deadly tornado season across the country. A string of tornadoes tore through several states, including Minnesota, Alabama and Georgia in early March. The twisters killed at least 20 people and severely damaged homes, businesses, a school and a hospital.

The devastation has many in tornado-prone areas wondering how they can prepare for the next killer storm.

"You know you're going to have to call your insurance agent in the morning, but you want to make sure you call him from your home rather than the hospital," said Peter Sparks, a professor of civil engineering at Clemson University who specializes in storm damage.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is encouraging stronger construction. But no matter how strong the home, there is no guarantee it will survive a tornado.

Extreme storms can cause abrupt changes in wind direction that put enormous pressure on a home's connected components, officials say.

Roofs and siding can be peeled off, eaves broken apart and windows and doors pushed in.

Once the building is significantly breached, high winds can break it apart, causing catastrophic damage.

But properly built safe rooms -- reinforced concrete and steel vaults anchored to the home's foundation -- can withstand anything Mother Nature throws at them, engineers and builders say.

Ideally, a home should have a safe place in an interior room built independently of the rest of the structure.

Although safe rooms are as rugged as bank vaults, they can double as everyday, usable spaces such as bathrooms or walk-in closets.

Experts acknowledge that building a safe room in an existing home can be pricey.

But, they ask, what is it worth to stay alive? The cheapest option is to add a safe room when building a new home.

The cost of a safe room in a new house can be as high as $7,000.

In homes without a safe room, residents should seek shelter in a bathroom, hallway or closet -- preferably an interior room away from the home's outer walls and windows.

Bathtubs can provide some shielding. But experts say they may not fully protect you from a structural collapse or flying debris.

Since Hurricane Andrew slammed into South Florida in 1992, killing more than two dozen people and causing $25 billion in damage, construction of both conventional and mobile homes has improved across the state.

But as the Feb. 2 tornadoes illustrated, the improved building standards weren't enough.

Increasingly, conventional builders are offering to construct safe rooms for buyers willing to pay extra. And even mobile-home residents can build safe rooms near their residences.

Safe rooms have been around for years, but interest in them increased after the series of hurricanes that struck Florida in 2004.

"After those storms, there was certainly more demand from home buyers," said Edie Ousley, spokeswoman for the Florida Home Builders Association.

In Lake County, builder Kristin Beall sells homes that come complete with many storm-resistant features that far exceed Florida's current building codes.

"We started planning this after the hurricanes of 2004," Beall said.

"It makes a difference when the storm damage is so close to us. It has made a lot of people start to think about safety."

Homes in her 56-unit development in Eustis, Fla., will include -- among other features -- thicker roof decking; sturdier roof shingles to withstand impact as strong as 130 mph; a garage door that can resist winds of up to 140 mph; and ballistic nylon window armor.

The homes also have walk-in closets with a difference. They are fortified with steel-reinforced concrete, a 200-pound steel door, a phone line and two air ducts -- one for the home's interior air-conditioning and the other for fresh air from outside.