FEMA grant provides safe room in Buffalo

SBJ Staff

Posted online September 14, 2008 | 11:00 pm

A grant of more than $1 million will be used to build a community safe room for Buffalo-area residents, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill announced Sept. 5.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is providing $1,088,658 for a shelter that will accommodate more than 2,000 residents in the event of a tornado. The grant covers roughly 75 percent of the shelter’s total cost of $1,451,544, with the city of Buffalo covering the remainder, according to a news release.

The multipurpose, community safe room, built to current FEMA standards, will be constructed on the Dallas County R-I School District’s Buffalo High School campus. During school hours, the room will shelter 1,425 students and staff and 1,160 residents. After school hours, the 2,585 community residents who live within five minutes of the school can access the shelter for protection.

“It’s important that we help communities prepare for disasters as well as help with recovery,” McCaskill said in the release. “An easily accessible community safe room is an important part of that, and I’m pleased the federal government is making this possible. With the completion of this community shelter, lives will be saved.”

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