/
Figure 5-1: Safe room that remained standing after an EF5 tornado (Newcastle, OK, 2013). The photo shows the safe room after the event, after debris had been
cleared away.
The Ohio Emergency Management Agency is ramping up a financial program that will help people during extreme weather events. It’s the Ohio Safe Room Rebate Program and the program provides as much as 75% of the costs to build a home storm shelter.
During the 2019 Memorial Day tornadoes that tore through Dayton, Harrison Township resident Teresa Smith had just minutes to get to safety.
“I thought I heard sirens and I turned the TV on and it said, ‘if you live in the Harrison Township area, get into your safe place, like now.’ I didn't have two minutes and it was there. I ran to the basement and held on for my life,” she recalled after the storms.