I live in Grayson County in Sherman, Texas and have been chosen by FEMA to get a rebate on a Safe Room. Why does it matter who I buy it from?
Basically it’s because the tornado shelter industry is unregulated and anyone can make storm shelters and say anything they want about it. Notice how many septic tank companies have joined the bandwagon and turned them into underground tornado shelters?
The only way to know who to trust is by relying on the National Storm Shelter Association to give you guidance. You can find their website here: http://www.nssa.cc/Origins.php. To qualify for Producer Member status in the NSSA shelter manufacturers must comply with FEMA 320 for storm shelters and have their designs and engineering calculations verified by a third party engineering company to be in compliance with the standard. The International Code Council (ICC) and the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) developed a national consensus standard to be accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ICC-500 is the ICC/NSSA Standard for Design and Construction of Storm Shelters.
NSSA Membership is recommended and encouraged by meteorologists and weather professionals everywhere because it is the trusted and established authority on severe weather safety. The professionals at the NSSA are the same people who worked with FEMA to develop safe room design guidelines found in FEMA 320, FEMA 360 & FEMA 361, including the impact testing conducted at Texas Tech University’s Wind Science and Engineering Research Center in Lubbock, TX.
The primary purpose of the NSSA is to ensure the highest quality of manufactured and constructed storm shelters for protecting people from injury or loss of life from the effects of tornadoes, hurricanes and other devastating natural disasters.
The association is self-policing for the storm shelter industry. This is why FEMA relies on the NSSA. They verify and hold Safe Room manufacturers accountable. It’s a big deal. Tornado Alley Armor Safe Rooms can be found at www.tornadoalleyarmor.com.
How do you get chosen by FEMA for a rebate?
Nancy,
The city or county you live in would have to apply for funding through FEMA. Once approved the Emergency Management Department would announce that there would be a rebate and would give the particulars. You can contact the Emergency Management Department for your county and/or city to inquire if they have applied for funding.
Thanks for your question!
Leslie
Good information here. Thanks for giving us more information about the NSSA and storm shelter compliance.