Nixa business provides shelter from severe storms

Located in the heart of Tornado Alley, Jeff and Karen Olsen know severe storms aren't unusual for southwest Missouri.

The Olsens opened Nixa-based Missouri Storm Shelters Inc. in June 2003 to provide safe rooms for people's homes and concrete shelters for area communities.

"Right after the Pierce City tornadoes in May 2003, a friend of mine from South Dakota called me (and) told me I needed to get a concrete culvert and make a storm shelter," Jeff Olsen said. "That just got the wheels turning ... and we opened (the business)."

Ranging in price from $3,095 to $10,000, the shelters offered by the Olsens are debris-impact tested and engineer-evaluated at Texas Tech University.

"The purpose of that is to make sure the flying debris cannot penetrate the storm shelter or damage the storm shelter enough to where anyone on the inside could get hurt, or injured or worse," he said. "More people are killed by flying debris in tornadoes."

Then, the shelters are engineer evaluated to determine if they can withstand tornado wind speeds. "Tornadoes push, pull and have uplift to them, and they cause all havoc on structures of all types. These shelters have to withstand all that," Jeff said.

The Texas Tech testing enables Missouri Storm Shelters to register its shelters with the National Storm Shelter Association.

Safety options

The Olsens' company, which posted more than $1 million in 2008 revenues, sells and installs indoor and outdoor shelters in a service area that spans a 400-mile radius.

The company's shelters meet Federal Emergency Management Agency standards, and FEMA and the International Code Council determined the minimum structural requirements needed in the design of a properly built and safe tornado shelter to withstand an EF-5 tornado.

Among the company's products are a flat-top underground concrete shelter that measures 5 feet by 7 feet and is 6 feet tall.

Rick Ramsey, owner of Ramsey Building Co., recently had a flat-top shelter installed in the garage floor of a 3,100-square-foot speculative home he's building in The Villages at Wicklow.

"It gives some reassurance in the moment that we all hear there is a funnel cloud in the area," Ramsey said. "It's a safe haven to go to and that's worth a lot. It saves you from having to go to a neighbor's house and get out in a storm."

That shelter, he said, will hold six people and comes with a ladder.

Another type of indoor shelter, the float-top concrete version, has the same dimensions, with two-thirds underground and an above-ground entrance.

Missouri Storm Shelters also offers above-ground concrete safe rooms with 36-inch steel doors and indoor dimensions of 8 feet by 5 feet and 6 feet tall.

The company also offers pre-fabricated steel safe rooms in various sizes that are above ground and can be bolted down inside a home's garage or another concrete floor, such as a basement.

The Olsens' insurance agent, Ella Eidson of Price Financial Group, is also a client of Missouri Storm Shelters. She purchased a 4-by-6-foot steel safe room two years ago because of frequent area storms, and, as it turns out, it was in place just in time.

"We had not had it in our house two days," she said. "My husband and I are driving to the fitness center in Republic (and) we look up in the skyline and we saw a funnel drop out of the sky. The next thing you know, the alarms are going off. We turned our vehicle around, went back to our house and got into our shelter. We used it again last year in January when the tornadoes went through."

Eidson said insurance companies do not offer discounts for the shelters because it is a life choice.

Judith Hall, owner of Judy's Daycare and Preschool, purchased a 4-by-8 safe room a couple of years ago. She said they have placed tools, shelves, lanterns, a weather radio, medication and pillows for the children in the shelter, which gives parents peace of mind when storms hit.

"They all stopped calling me like they used to because they all know we are going to get in there in plenty of time," she added.

Easy installation

Missouri Storm Shelters also has a new patented, bolt-together safe room that comes in four sizes and is designed primarily to go into existing homes or businesses.

Olsen said his business ships the shelters anywhere within the 48 contiguous states, and they come with deflector plate vent covers that are removable from the outside.

"The doors are latched with three one-inch latch bolts on the inside," Karen Olsen said. "So if someone goes into the shelter, has medical emergency or a child gets locked in one and can't get out, you can remove the vents from the outside, reach in and unlatch the latch bolt."

All the steel shelter doors open inward, in the case of debris falling in front of the shelter, and the doors also feature a bypass system for locks.

In February, Missouri Storm Shelters will offer steel doors with door frames that can be retro-fitted or fitted during construction. Pricing on the doors, which will weigh 250 pounds, will range from $1,500 to $1,800, and the Olsens hope to have a door on display during the Feb. 6-8 Home Builders Association Home Show at the Expo Center.

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