Tornado Shelters
in Tornado Shelter, Tornado Shelter
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The safest place for school children during severe weather is a designed/engineered storm shelter that meets FEMA design guidelines. What once may have been considered an acceptable storm shelter area just a few years ago, in all probability does not meet current Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidelines. FEMA has developed guidelines for tornado safer areas that are intended to provide “near absolute protection” from 250 mph winds. This means minimizing the probability of death and injury during a tornadic event.
PBA Architects has been in the forefront of tornado shelter design for more than 12 years. Corey Schultz, of PBA Architects, has personally designed 19 shelters for K-12 schools, one of which was a case study for the “Design and Construction Guidance for Community Shelters” (FEMA 361). He has consulted on over 40 shelters. He was also on the review committee for the FEMA 361 and the benefit cost analysis software that is part of the FEMA 361. Corey has recently served as a voting member on the International Code Council (ICC) Consensus Committee on Storm Shelters, which regulates “the design, construction and installation of safe, reliable and economical storm shelters.”
PBA Architects is uniquely positioned to offer a full array of tornado shelter design services to concerned building owners, including site assessments of existing facilities, design analysis of existing refuge areas, determination of options for owners, design of new tornado safer areas and Peer Review.
For questions, contact Corey Schultz at 316-262-7400.
