Two excellent articles from the NY Times today:
- Why No Safe Room to Run to? Cost and Plains Culture.
- A Survival Plan for American’s Tornado Danger Zone
And it appears that the Mayor of Moore thinks safe rooms should be required! See; Mayor of tornado-ravaged town: New law needed to keep people safe; CNN, May 22.
The mayor of tornado-ravaged Moore, Oklahoma, will push for a law requiring storm shelters or safe rooms in new homes, he told CNN Wednesday.”We’ll try to get it passed as soon as I can,” Glenn Lewis said.The ordinance would apply to single-family and multi-family homes.
Too bad it did not happen sooner…..
Update at 7pm, May 22: I have seen TV interviews of both the Governor and Lt. Governor of OK today and both dodged the question about making shelters in public buildings a mandatory requirement. Judy Woodruth of NPR really pressed Governor Fallin quite hard on the topic, but the Governor essentially said the cost ( a few thousand dollars per building) was an issue.
Recovery Diva 
Sounds like a good start for those who will be rebuilding in the aftermath of the storm. It will be interesting to see if the state will focus some of the mitigation funds it receives from the current disaster and CBG fund to assist citizent to make the smart leap to building a tornado shelter. Also will the State push the insurance industry to provide funds for what may be perceived as an upgrade to the structure and therefore normally not covered as an expense.
Toney
Good suggestions. I hope the folks at all levels of government responding in Moore are paying attention to these aspects.