#Joplin missouri tornado safe rooms how to#
#Joplin missouri tornado safe rooms code#

When a tornado warning is issued, and tornado sirens are activated by the Greene County Emergency Management Director or the County’s 911 Director, the safe room will be opened. Once a tornado watch is issued for Greene County, SPS personnel will prepare the safe room. They don’t stay unlocked indefinitely because we want to ensure the people in the building are safe.” When should you go to a public tornado shelter, and what happens once you get there? “That’s what we consider the are in which people could get to the shelter in a timely matter during a tornado warning before the doors are then locked. “The tornado protection zone is essentially a half-mile radius around the site,” Shaw said. These rooms are available to residents in the community that live within what SPS refers to as the “Tornado Protection Zone.” The TPZ is based on the estimated time necessary to reach the safe room after a warning has been given and the maximum capacity of the safe room, including the student body and staff. The public is able to use those shelters outside of school hours. Others would be available 24/7 because of their size.”īoyd Elementary School ( 833 East Division St.), Fulbright Early Childhood Center ( 3373 West Battlefield Rd.) and Williams Elementary School ( 2205 West Kearney St.) have safe rooms to provide protection for the students and staff during tornados and extreme high wind events during school hours. Some of them are only available outside of school hours because of their size.

“If they’re built to the capacity that allows that, then we want the community to be able to access those as well. “This is not just intended for our students and staff,” Shaw said. Missouri State also has one, located next door to Sunvilla Tower at 827 East Elm St. Greene County Office of Emergency Management also lists two other public storm shelters, both located on university campuses.ĭrury University has a tornado safe room at the O’Reilly Family Event Center, located at 935 North Summit Ave.

Westport K-8 School gymnasium, 415 South Golden Ave. Sunshine Elementary School gymnasium, 421 East Sunshine St. Sherwood Elementary School gymnasium, 2524 South Golden Ave. Kickapoo High School auditorium, 3710 South Jefferson Ave. Jeffries Elementary School gymnasium, 4051 South Scenic Ave. Hillcrest High School cafeteria, 3319 North Grant Ave. 8 public tornado shelters available to residents within 1/2 mile areaĭelaware Elementary School gymnasium, 1505 South Delaware Ave.įremont Elementary School gymnasium, 2814 North Fremont Ave. Of those 11, eight are available for use by community members. If you don’t have time to reach one, we interviewed experts to find out the safest places to shelter inside a home with no basement. There are 11 Springfield schools with tornado safe rooms. There have to be separate generators from the facility, there have to be a certain number of restrooms based on occupancy.”

They have to be able to withstand up to 250 mph winds and all the doors and any ventilation have to be rated for that as well.

#Joplin missouri tornado safe rooms code#

It’s a building code that requires a lot of things. “We’re building ours to the ICC 500 Code. Travis Shaw, executive director of operations for SPS. “The biggest thing is they’ll withstand an EF-5 tornado and keep people safe,” said Dr. These shelters are designed to withstand an F5 tornado, equal to the twister that devastated Joplin in 2011. SPS will open several tornado safe rooms to the public during certain severe weather events. Thanks to Springfield Public Schools, there are still safe places to go. Not everyone has a basement or storm shelter where they live. It is being reprinted and shared with permission of the author for public access.įor quick reference, scroll down to our list of locations, which includes Google Maps links.

#Joplin missouri tornado safe rooms how to#

Jeff Kissinger compiled this information for the Springfield Daily Citizen’s article: Public tornado shelters in Springfield: Who can use them, how to get there.