In past years, more than 1,000 twisters killed in excess of 120 people and created millions of dollars in property damage. The dollar figure for the tornadoes which struck Oklahoma City in May of 1999 has exceeded 90 million dollars.

The National Tornado Forum has announced an effort to encourage more people to build "safe rooms" The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) stated, "When that tornado warning comes, people need to put their family in a safe place". .

In an effort to see that more people are protected FEMA, along with the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), have programs in place which assist families with financing for their "Safe Rooms".
FEMA director, James Witt, said, "We know that safe rooms save lives". Responding to this call for saving lives, we designed a tornado-safe room (hence TORNADOSAFEROOM). Our units are manufactured from solid 1/4" steel construction. The safe rooms may be installed in the interior of structures with concrete flooring or exterior of any type of structure, commercial or residential including pre-manufactured homes and mobile homes

 Knowledge and protection are the keys to saving lives.

The following explanations will help you when the weather alerts are sounded.

Tornado Watch - this alert is issued when weather conditions are 'ripe' for the formation of a tornado. When these are issued, your preparations for safety should begin

Tornado Warning - this means that a funnel cloud has actually been sighted or radar has indicated a tornado. Be ready.

Along with these definitions the Fujita Pearson Tornado Scale will give you an under-standing of the potential of the coming storm. Note the estimated damage done as the F rating goes up. The tornado which devastated Oklahoma City was an F-5.

Fujita Pearson Tornado Scale

F-0:40-72 mph, chimney damage, tree branches broken,
F-1:73-112 mph, mobile homes pushed off foundation or overturned.
F-2:113-I57 mph. considerable damage, mobile homes demolished, trees up-rooted.
F-3: 158-205 mph, roofs and walls torn down, trains overturned, cars thrown.
F-4:207-260 mph, well-constructed walls leveled.
F-5:261-318 mph, homes lifted off their foundations and carried considerable distances, auto thrown as far as 328 feet.

Tornados can and do occur, anywhere when weather conditions create the right formula.
Tornadoes have been recorded with wind speeds over 300 m.p.h. and staying on the ground for more than an hour. Flying debris presents one of the greatest dangers during Tornadoe's

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WASHINGTON (AP).....When tornadoes threaten, federal officials would like to see more people taking cover in a storm shelter, and fewer swept away in the wind.  More than 1,000 twisters have struck so far this year, killing 120 people and doing millions of dollars in damage, said James Lee Will, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Witt, opening a two-day National Tornado Forum, announced an effort to get people to build "safe rooms", modern versions of the old fashioned storm cellar.  "When that Tornado warning comes on people need to put their family in a safe place", said Mr. Witt.

Tornado  warning have improved markedly in recent years, but "even a perfect warning is reduced to an academic exercise if people don't receive it and react to it," added National Weather Service Director, John J, Kelly. Jr.

Witt said FEMA and the Wind Research Center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock have developed plans for construction of safe rooms in homes in tornado-prone areas. "When constructed according to the plans, the safe rooms can provide protection against winds of up to 250 miles per hour and projectiles traveling at 100 miles per hour," he said.  Wind speeds vary in tornadoes, but only the most powerful top 250 miles per hour.  Much of the damage near the twisters is caused by flying debris.

The TornadoSafeRoom exceeds the rating of protection provided by other safe rooms. The problem of flying debris during damaging winds is solved by the units tested and certified to 450 mph. The tests conducted on these units indicated no structural damage by flying debris and no structural failure of the unit in test winds of 450 mph.

The TornadoSafeRoom is available for existing homes, mobile homes, manufactured homes, new construction and commercial sites.