Tornado Shelters and Safe Rooms Serve Dual Purpose for Residents of Florida: Provide Protection against Hurricane Winds

With Hurricane Irene bearing down on Florida, a disaster management firm out of Thomasville, Georgia is frantically fielding calls from throughout Florida and the Atlantic Seaboard regarding its storm shelters. Survive-a-Storm Shelters, a division of Harbor Homes, LLC, has years of experience responding to natural disasters. The company holds a current, active $153 million contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to build temporary living units for deployment in the immediate aftermath of hurricanes and other large scale natural disasters. Survive-a-Storm Shelters represents the company’s efforts to shift focus from disaster response to disaster prevention and mitigation.

According to company spokesperson Matt Williams, “When people think about tornadoes, the don’t typically think of Florida. But the state of Florida has received 626 tornadoes since 2000, and Palm Beach County alone has been hit by 37 of those tornadoes. The risk is real, and Survive-a-Storm Shelters is working hard to help people become more prepared for these storms.”

Florida is better known for its exposure to hurricanes, and with Hurricane Irene tracking for the Atlantic Coast, these concerns are well placed. Above ground safe rooms and below ground storm shelters provide excellent protection against various types of windstorms and the often-accompanying flying debris. While underground storm shelters are less suitable for areas affected by storm surges and flooding, above ground shelters provide a sensible alternative that can be quickly deployed in an existing structure. These panelized steel structures simply bolt together and are, in turn, bolted onto an existing concrete pad—such as the floor of a garage or the inside of a closet in a home build on a concrete slab. The installation takes only a couple of hours, and homeowners receive the additional benefit of having an in-house panic room that can be occupied in the event of a security threat. These above ground storm shelters are available in a range of sizes starting at under $3,000.

Survive-a-Storm Shelters operates through a nationwide network of dealers which include pool and spa installers, mobile home dealers, septic installers, residential homebuilders, and other licensed contractors.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.survive-a-storm.com/