by Blake Lee | Jan 23, 2018 | FAQ
The Sooner Safe Rebate Program is a great opportunity offered to all Oklahoma residents. For people who may not be familiar with the program, it is basically a lottery that is done each year throughout the state. The winners receive a voucher that will cover 75% of any storm shelter purchase with a $2000 max. Basically, it’s free money to help local families afford a storm shelter.
In order to qualify for the program, all you have to do is enroll on the ok.gov website. Once you are registered, you are in the lottery for life. IF you don’t win your first year of registration, you are automatically registered in the following years lottery. The program will use a random selection process to select names so that everyone who registers will have an equal chance to be selected. For that reason, the order of registration does not improve the odds of being selected. It is also important to know that only one person may register per physical home address.
If you are selected as a winner under this program, they give you 30 days to let them know whether or not you want to accept the rebate. If the timing is bad, you can select to decline the rebate and still be applicable for future selections. If you chose to accept the rebate, then you can select a company to install the storm shelter for you. All of our shelters at F5 qualify for the Sooner Safe Rebate Program. All of our products meet FEMA publications 320, FEMA 361, and ICC 500. WE have installed thousands of shelters for Sooner Safe winners over the last 7-8 years all over the state.
Additional eligibility rules are as follows:
To be eligible, the safe room must be installed at primary residences and must be installed on property owned by the applicant.
Apartment complexes, duplexes, and other multi-family residences are not eligible for this rebate, as they are considered businesses. This safe room rebate program is for single-family homes only.
If you own two or more homes, you may only register for a safe room rebate for your primary residence.
Community or neighborhood safe rooms are not eligible for this rebate.
If you live in a mobile home, you must own both the mobile home itself and the land it is located on to be eligible for the rebate.
If you live in a rented house you are not eligible for this rebate. Only single-family residential homeowners are eligible to receive the rebate for their primary residence.
If you have already installed a safe room, are having it installed now, or are planning to have it installed at any time prior to receiving notification that you have been selected as a Sooner Safe rebate recipient, that safe room is not eligible for this rebate. Previously installed safe rooms are not eligible.
Retrofitting or repairing an existing storm shelter to meet FEMA specifications does not qualify. However, you may be eligible for a new safe room.
You may not build or install the safe room yourself.
If the safe room you choose to have installed is not a pre-fabricated or manufactured design, you or your contractor may be required to submit additional documentation to verify the safe room meets all federal regulations associated with this program.
If your home is in a floodplain and you have flood insurance, you may be eligible for the rebate. You would not be eligible for a below ground safe room, but you may be eligible for an above ground safe room. However, other agencies will have to approve your specific situation. You may be required to provide more information.
If you live on historic property, or in a historic district you may be eligible for the rebate. However, other agencies will have to approve your specific situation. You may be required to provide more information.
If your home was destroyed in a tornado and you plan to rebuild your home in a different location than your previous home you are eligible for this rebate, as long as you are building in Oklahoma and it is your primary residence. However, you must contact the Sooner Safe team to verify the correct address has been submitted for review.
If your home was destroyed in Oklahoma and you are rebuilding your home out of state you are not eligible for this rebate. The safe room must be built in Oklahoma.
You must pay the total invoice for the safe room and installation in order to receive the rebate, as well as provide copies of the cleared check or credit card statement.
Safe room lease agreements are not eligible.
These Rules and Regulations apply to the Sooner Safe program only. Local city or county safe room rebate programs will have their own individual guidelines and you must contact them for further information.
If you have recently won funding through the Sooner Safe Program, call us today and we can go over all the types of shelters, safe rooms, and outdoor cellars we offer. WE would love to hel your family stay safe this storm season.
F5 Storm Shelters OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770 Stay Alive, Call F5!
www.f5stormsheltersok.com
by Blake Lee | Jul 21, 2015 | News
Did you know that F5 Storm Shelters is the only storm shelter company in the state that has showrooms in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa? This makes it easy for anybody in the state to have the chance to see our products in person. Did you just move to Oklahoma and are in need of a storm shelter? Did you receive rebate money from the state for the purchase of a storm shelter? Did last storm season finally scare you enough to make the jump to making sure your family is never in a helpless position again when severe weather strikes? If you are in need of any type of storm shelter or safe room, come by one of our showrooms and check out what F5 Storm shelters has to offer. We have all three sizes of our underground garage shelters on display. You can get inside and get a feel for which size is the best fit for your family. Would you prefer an above ground option? Each of our showrooms has saferooms on display as well. Any questions you may have will be answered by an on site professional. We have onsite employees there to assist you and help guide you towards a storm shelter that fits best for your needs.
For people located in the central part of the state, our showroom in Edmond is located at 16524 N Pennsylvania Ave. We are about 2 miles North of Quail Springs Mall on 164th. Located in Fenwick Plaza.
For people in the NE portion of the state, our Tulsa location is located at 10846 S Memorial Dr. It’s about 2 miles South of the Creek Turnpike on Memorial. We are in the same shopping center as the Walmart located at the corner of 111th and Memorial. Directly behind the Sonic and Charlie’s Chicken.
Both locations are opened Monday through Friday 10am-6pm. We are also open on Saturnday 10am-2pm. If you can’t make it in during any of these times, don’t worry, we also open up for scheduled appointments. Just call us and set something up:
OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770
F5 Storm Shelters, tornado shelters, saferooms
Stay Alive, Call F5!
by Blake Lee | Jan 13, 2015 | Uncategorized
F5 Storm Shelters opened our Tulsa location in June of 2014. It comes up quite a bit, but many people in the city have a feeling that Tulsa is a safe haven from tornadoes because a lot of the terrain in the NE region of Oklahoma is a bit more hilly. On the flip side, Oklahoma City, is in a much more flat area of the state and this leaves it more prone to tornadic activity. Is this information accurate? Does rougher terrain make it more difficult for severe weather to form? Is Tulsa protected against tornadoes? We wanted to find out.
A little bit of research and we discovered that tornadoes have been observed on terrain as high as 12,000 ft above sea level! There is also documentation of a tornado traveling up a 3,000 ft ridge unaffected.In 1944, a violent tornado cut a continuous path at least 60 miles through heavily mountainous territory in West Virginia, killing at least 100 people. Here are just a few examples of tornadoes we found that formed in rougher terrain:
A hill known as Burnett’s Mound on the southwest end of Topeka, Kansas was purported to protect the city from tornadoes, according to an old legend. However, in 1966, an F5 tornado passed directly over the hill through downtown, killing 18 people and causing $100 million in damage.
During the Super Outbreak, violent tornadoes crossed dozens of rivers, including the Ohio, Detroit River as well as crossing over mountains and ridges hundreds of feet high.
Another example of tornadoes hitting mountainous regions of the United States is the April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak, which hit mountainous parts of East Tennessee, Northeast Alabama, Southwest Virginia and North Georgia, killing many people, including an entire family of 4 in Ringgold, Georgia.
We are still figuring out how it is tornadoes form, but we do know that they can form anywhere. No terrain feature can prevent this from happening. Tulsa, like all of Oklahoma, is at extreme risk of having a tornado touch down at anytime of the year. Statistically, since 1950, Tulsa county and Oklahoma county have experienced almost the same amount of tornadoes. However, Tulsa has not gotten the giant F5 that has devastated OKC numerous times over the last decade. OKC has reported at least 2 F5 torandoes over the last 5 years. Joplin, Missouri has gotten one. Tulsa is located almost directly in the middle of both cities. It is not a matter of ‘If Tulsa can get hit by a tornado,’ it’s a matter of ‘when will Tulsa get hit by a tornado?’ Everybody in the state needs to be prepared for severe weather. We are here to help.
F5 Storm Shelters OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770 Stay Alive, Call F5!
by Blake Lee | Dec 19, 2014 | News
We thought it would be cool to come up with a list of facts about tornadoes that most people don’t know, but probably should. Living in tornado alley, it is important to know as much as you can about these terrible twisters in order to better stay safe when they touch down.
1. Most tornadoes tend to move from the Southwest towards the Northeast. It is also possible for them to move in the opposite direction for certain periods of time if the winds from the eye of the storm are strong enough.
2. Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water. They tend to be weaker and usually occur during the late Fall or Winter seasons. If they do move on to land, they become full grown tornadoes.
3. On average. most funnel clouds last around 10 minutes. Most reported touchdowns only last a few seconds, but worst case scenario, some have been reported to be on the ground for over an hour.
4. The middle part of the country known as ‘The Great Plains’ (North Dakota down to Texas) is a breeding ground for tornadoes during the Spring and early Summer months. The flat terrain makes it easy for twisters to form.
5. Oklahoma City has been hit with more tornadoes then any other city in the United States! OKC has reported over 100 known tornado touch downs, but the numbers are thought to be much higher since documented reporting only goes back so far. OKC seems to be the bulls eye on the tornado map dart board.
6. Texas is the state with the most reported tornadoes. This is not surprising due to the massive size of the state.
7. Three out of every four tornadoes that touch down throughout the world, touch down in the United States!
8. The widest tornado ever reported and the tornado with the highest wind speeds ever reported both happened in……Oklahoma. In fact, the wind speeds reported during the Moore tornado in 1999 (302 mph) are the highest wind speeds reported on planet Earth!
9. The average time of the day to expect a tornado is between the hours of 3pm-9pm.
10. Tornadoes have occurred in every state in the United States and during every month of the calendar year.
by Blake Lee | Dec 10, 2014 | Installation Projects
Over the years, above ground safe rooms have started to become more and more popular all throughout Tornado Alley. For people who are not familiar with safe rooms, think of them as a steel closet that is bolted into your garage floor. To many Oklahomans, the thought of being above ground during a tornado could sound terrifying, but after much testing and investigation, safe rooms are statistically just as safe as being underground as long as they meet certain criteria. Nobody has been injured or killed in an above ground safe room that has received a passing grade from Texas Tech Universities Wind Institute in Lubbock, Texas. Our safe rooms passed these test and you can watch video of this on the video portion of our website. FEMA also has a set of guidelines that you must meet when building a safe room. We exceed FEMA guidelines by 50% or more throughout every aspect of construction. We use thicker steel then is required, more locking mechanisms, more ventilation cutouts, and probably most importantly, more bolts anchoring the safe room into your slab.
Like we said previously, safe rooms are becoming a lot more popular. This type of storm shelter is great for elderly couples who maybe can’t get down steps as easily or as quickly as may be required in order to seek safety inside an underground garage storm shelter or outdoor storm cellar. They are also very popular options for families with a member with a disability or in a wheel chair. Just think for a moment, if you had a child in a wheel chair home by themselves during severe weather, what would you do? An underground storm shelter could be useless in this scenario. Some people feel more claustrophobic being below ground, thus, above ground storm shelters may offer more comfortability. Safe rooms are also great because they have the abilty to be moved. If you move to a new home sometime in the future, you can take the safe room with you if you choose. One of the big drawbacks we hear when discussing safe room options is that many people fear they will lose too much space in their garage. For this concern, there is an easy solution, bolt together safe rooms.
Our bolt together above ground safe rooms are great because they allow people that are in an existing home to install their safe room inside of the house. A lot of companies only build pre fabricated safe rooms, meaning, they are already built when they show up for install. These type of safe rooms offer limited options on where they can be installed. It’s pretty much either inside of your garage or maybe a backyard patio. Bolt together safe rooms come in panels that our installers will put together at your house. The installation is easy and is a one day job. We can put these anywhere inside your home so that you don’t lose any space inside the garage. Most people usually elect to install them inside of a closet or spare bedroom. If you have any other questions or want more information, call one of our showrooms in either Oklahoma City or Tulsa. We have sales reps that would be more then happy to assist you!
F5 Storm Shelters OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770 Stay Alive, Call F5!
Inside of a bolt together above ground safe room
This is what our bolt together above ground safe rooms look like from the outside. They are just as safe as being underground.
