by Blake Lee | Jan 13, 2016 | News
To any citizens of Ottawa County, The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management was awarded a $235,625 grant from FEMA, which will help cover the cost to build up to 115 individual safe rooms / storm shelters for your residents. Through this individual Safe Room Rebate Program, homeowners have the opportunity of purchasing a FEMA approved safe room / storm shelter for their property and be reimbursed for it. In order to qualify for the program, applicants must own their own home and a flood survey must show that they are not inside of a flood plain. Storm shelters cannot be built in a flood zone due to hazard issues. Residents who are granted the rebate have three years to build a safe room in order to be reimbursed by FEMA. Qualified residents who applied may be reimbursed up to 75 percent of the cost of installing the shelter, or a maximum price up to $2,000. The remaining 25 percent will be the responsibility of the homeowner. The Homeowner has the choice of installing an underground storm shelter or an above ground safe room. Anyone wishing to be reimbursed for their shelter must be approved and funded before installing a safe room / storm shelter, otherwise they will not be reimbursed. The rebate program is open to every individual household in the county, excluding households within Miami city limits, due to recent grants awarded in the area. The city of Miami was already granted twice through this rebate program, this one is for everyone in the county outside of Miami city limits.
Congratulations to everybody that has received funding from this program. If you have any questions about storm shelters, you can call our Tulsa location and they can assist you. We would love to help your family stay safe from Oklahoma’s severe weather. Stay Alive, Call F5!
F5 Storm Shelters of Tulsa
10846 S. Memorial Dr. #112
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74133
(918) 970-4770]
F5 Storm Shelters Oklahoma
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.
by Blake Lee | Nov 5, 2014 | Storm Preparedness
We know that it is the beginning of November and not to many people are thinking about severe weather, but we think now is the perfect time to advise people on what they can do to get their family ready for Oklahoma’s next storm season. Here is a list of things you can do to make sure that you are prepared for when tornado season begins (in just a few months from now I might add).
1. GET A STORM SHELTER!! If you haven’t got one already then this is the absolute first thing that you need to do. Storm shelters not only offer you a safe haven from severe weather, but they also offer you piece of mind. It’s is a very relaxing feeling to know that even if the tornado sirens are going off, that you have a place to take your family. If you live in the state of Oklahoma, it is extremely important that you have some type of tornado shelter at your home. If you don’t have a shelter, right now is the perfect time of the year to get one. Let everybody else focus on the holidays and wait until February or March to call and get on a waiting list. By that time, you will already have yours installed and for quite a bit less money 🙂
2. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR STORM SHELTER SUPPLIED WITH SURVIVAL ITEMS. Don’t put off getting all the necessary items you need for inside your shelter. In case you don’t know what items you will need, we recommend having flash lights, weather radio, bottles of water, fan, non perishable food items, and an air horn. Another heads up, make sure all the items you keep inside your shelter are battery powered. You may not have power when using your storm shelter during a tornado so plan accordingly. We also recommend getting a five gallon bucket to store all your items. This way nothing gets lost or misplaced.
3. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Remember back in school when we used to have to practice doing fire drills? This is a similar concept. Once every couple of months, get together as a family and simulate being under a tornado warning. In case you didn’t know, tornado watch = take caution, tornado warning = take action. Practice getting in and out of your storm shelter or safe room. Make sure everybody in the family knows how to open the lid and get inside. You never know what time of the day a tornado will hit. It is likely that children could be home by themselves so it is very important that they know how to use the storm shelter. Lucky for you, we make our shelters very easy to use for just this type of situation.
4. INSPECT YOUR SHELTER. It is a good idea to look inside your tornado shelter from time to time. If your shelter has a leak and is allowing water inside it is much better to figure that out before you have to use it during storm season. Leaks don’t happen often, but if you notice one, they are a very easy fix. Another thing that I do with my shelter is to bug bomb it once or twice a year to eliminate insects and other undesirable critters.
If you have any questions or concerns you can always give us a call. If you are interested in installing a storm shelter or safe room at your house, we can help with that as well. We have show rooms in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa so it’s easy for just about anybody in the state to see us.
Underground Garage Tornado Shelter In Broken Arrow
F5 STORM SHELTERS
Storm Shelters, Tornado Shelters, Safe Rooms
Tulsa – (918) 970-4770
Oklahoma City – (405) 824-7209
by Blake Lee | Nov 3, 2014 | News
THE BEST TIME TO PURCHASE A STORM SHELTER
Most people don’t know this, but one of the best times to purchase a storm shelter is during the Fall and Winter seasons. One of the main reasons for this is because there are not a lot of long waiting list. You can typically get your storm shelter installed within 2-3 weeks of purchase as opposed to in the Spring and Summer months when the wait could be multiple months. Choosing to purchase a storm shelter now is smart because it guarantees that you will have the shelter when you know you are going to need it, during storm season. Waiting until March to sign up for installation can almost guarantee you the you wont have it until the following years storm season. This can be kind of frustrating.
Another great reason to purchase a storm shelter later on in the year is the savings! Who doesn’t love saving money? Storm shelter demand is obviously a lot lower in November then it is in April or May.
This strongly benefits the customer. Right now, we are taking $200 off any storm shelter or safe room purchase. This deal will not be around in the Spring. Take advantage of the time of the year and get your family prepared for next storm season!
If you are interested in purchasing a storm shelter or if you won one of the many rebate programs going on through out the state then give us a call. We can answer any questions you may have and would love to help you protect your family. We sell all types of storm shelters. From our most poplar seller, the underground garage model, to above ground safe rooms, and outdoor storm cellars, F5 Storm Shelters has you covered. With locations in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City, we can get anywhere in the state easily. Call us today! Stay Alive, Call F5!
F5 STORM SHELTERS
Storm Shelters, Tornado Shelters, Safe Rooms
Tulsa – (918) 970-4770
Oklahoma City – (405) 824-7209
