Mississippi City Gets New Storm Shelter
Residents in Saltillo, Miss., are closer to having a large, safe place from storms.
A crew from Supercell Shelters, in Decatur, Alabama, delivered the city’s community storm shelter Thursday. The 10-foot wide and 48-foot long arched steel building is designed to house up to 96 people and withstand the high winds and flying debris of a tornado.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports the 19,000-pound structure is located next to Saltillo City Hall.
But it will probably be mid-November before the shelter will be ready for residents.
“We still have some work to do on the outside,” said Saltillo zoning administrator Brian Grissom. “We will have to redirect some storm drainage around it and build a sidewalk that goes right up to the door so that it is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.”
The city also plans to remove a portion of the vinyl privacy fence that currently blocks the view from the parking lot. Officials have applied for a state grant to purchase a generator to provide an uninterrupted supply of electricity to the shelter. In addition to lights, the shelter has vented fans to provide fresh air.
Saltillo already has two small, prefabricated concrete and steel tornado shelters at City Park that are available to the public. The desire for a large safe room to serve the community grew out of the April 2014 tornado that hit Tupelo.
The bulk of the funding for the $47,000 project is coming from federal funds through a Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant. The grant will pay 75 percent, just more than $35,000. The city’s matching funds will be $11,695, which can include in-kind services such as preparing the site.