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Reported at 8:30 AM CDT: The mayor of tornado-ravaged Moore, Oklahoma says he'll try to get an ordinance passed requiring storm shelters or safe rooms in new housing projects. "I have six councilmen and I need four votes to get it passed," Mayor Glenn Lewis told CNN today. [ See More ]The mammoth EF5 tornado hit the town Monday, killing 24 people, including 9 children, and wrecking 2,400 homes. Very few residents had access to a storm shelter.
"Probably less than one tenth of one percent" of the houses in Moore are built with basements, said Mike Hancock, president of Basement Contractors in Edmond, Oklahoma. But Hancock and other experts say affordable shelters are feasible.
An above-ground shelter runs $8,000 to $10,000; a small basement would cost $15,000 to $20,000; and a concrete cellar built during new-house construction would cost as little as $2,200, said Mike Barnett, a custom homebuilder in the area for 37 years. [ Hide ]
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