Lets first start off with this warning. Tornado or Storm Safe Rooms are a very serious matter. They are your last resort in a natural disaster situation to save you and your family from death or serious injury. For this reason if you are looking for details about how to build one you will not find this information on this website. If you live in a storm prone area you can contact the following for detailed information:
Your Local FEMA Office.
Your Local Building Official.
Your Local or State Fire Marshal.
All of the above people should have training or have the resources to put you in contact with someone who’s job it is to design and construct Safe Rooms. With this said lets look at an overview of Tornado and Storm Safe Rooms.
FEMA and a number of College and Private Research Organizations have completed studies on wind damage to residential and commercial buildings. The research is based both on models and field testing to understand what type of structure is required to keep occupants safe during natural disaster situations.
Building Code standards vary slightly across different locations in the US. Variations to Framing, Foundations and other parts of your structure are set up to meet the minimum requirements of living in your area but most building codes do not come close to the needs met in a serious storm.
Hurricanes and Tornadoes will consistently generate winds over 100 miles per hour and when combined with rains, flash flooding and debri this creates a life threatening situation.
So you are asking yourself what can you do? Well you can move. This may seem like one option but because almost every region has some type of serious weather condition it is not realistic. The other option is to build your home or business to a safe enough level to protect you.
Because the cost of constructing full buildings at the level that can sustain themselves during tornadoes, hurricanes and other conditions is cost prohibitive it is suggested that you design a section or room within each building that has been fortified.