Tuesday, May 04, 1999

Idea for storm shelter becomes big business

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Buyers want peace of mind

BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jim and Diana Poole demonstrate one of their storm shelters. (Yoni Pozner photo) | ZOOM |

        MOUNT ORAB — Jim and Diana Poole sell what they say is peace of mind for the tornado-wary — and their storm-shelter business can't keep up with the demand, especially since a killer tornado struck April 9.

        “We've had more calls in the last two weeks than we've ever had,” Mrs. Poole, 46, said last week.

        There is now about a six-week wait for a shelter, her husband added. “Our telephone starts ringing at 7 in the morning and it doesn't stop until 11:30 at night.”

        When the couple started Heartland Storm Shelters about nine years ago, “people looked at us like we were crazy,” Mrs. Poole said.

        Mr. Poole, who grew up in a mobile home with a mother who was terrified of tornadoes, invested his lifesavings. Nowhe's a successful businessman with 40 dis tributors of his patented underground fiberglass shelters, which cost $5,000 to $10,000.

        There's debate whether such shelters are necessary, given the likelihood of a tornado striking — about 1 in 10,000 for any one spot in the Tristate, according to Harold Brooks, a meteorologist for the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla.

        Don't tell that to tornado survivors, says Andrew Sachs, spokesman for the Federal Emergency Manage ment Agency (FEMA).

        “Homeowners are clamoring for this, because once you've lived through one tornado, you know there's very little you can do to prevent major damage or loss of life,” Mr. Sachs said. “A lot of people think the money is worth it, for the peace of mind if nothing else.”

        Years ago, people thought of tornado shelter as the pro tected part of their homes.

        “The problem is that doesn't always work,” Mr. Sachs said.

        If a person goes to the basement, there is still risk of death or serious injury from flying or falling debris.

        Now there are many good shelters on the market, Mr. Sachs said, adding, “It's going from a common-sense approach to a scientific approach.”

        FEMA has compiled a free booklet, Taking Shelter From the Storm, which outlines risks and options, including plans for an in-home shelter that FEMA and Texas Tech University developed.

        Doris Grazulis, assistant director of the Tornado Project in St. Johnsbury, Vt., said the tornado-shelter business has taken off in the past three years, owing to some well-publicized tornadoes, as well as the 1996 movie Twister.

        “A bunch of new companies have sprung up — and they just slap something together,” she said, “but Mr. Poole really seems to have done his homework. He's had engineers involved, and he's gone through all the steps.”

        Mr. Poole, 54, a union electrician by trade and former mayor of Mount Orab, obtained a patent for the shelter design in 1994.

        Tests show the Poole shelter door could withstand 700 pounds of pressure before it could be ripped away, he said. His shelters come with a lifetime warranty and are said to be waterproof because they are made of seamless molded fiberglass.

        Mr. Poole's calculations and test data have passed scrutiny of the Southern Building Code Congress International in Birmingham, Ala. Woods McRoy, senior engineer for that group, said Mr. Poole's product may be the only storm shelter listed with his organization.

        Mrs. Grazulis said she is preparing to post on the Internet a checklist of questions consumers should ask when considering buying a tornado shelter.

        “The need (for shelters) is really debatable, because the risk is so slight for most places,” she said, “but I like the idea of community shelters, especially for people in mobile homes.”

        FEMA is studying “mass shelters” to accommodate large numbers of people, from mobile home parks, schools and the like, Mr. Sachs said.

        People in mobile homes are 10 to 20 times more likely to be killed than those in conventional houses, said Mr. Brooks, the meteorologist.

        “If you have a shelter and can get into that, your chances of survival are incredibly high,” he said, adding there have been no studies on lives saved by storm shelters.

        Cheryl Bennett, 54, who lives in a Mowrystown (Highland County) mobile home, said she feels safer after getting a weather radio and having a Poole shelter installed in her yard.

        “If we had a tornado out here, I'd have to get in a ditch — there's nowhere else to go,” said Ms. Bennett, who uses a cane to walk. “I'm just thankful I have it. Before, I never felt safe when a storm came through — and now I do.”

        For more info: Heartland Storm Shelters (800) 454-7077 or www.heartlandshelters.com, The Tornado Project at www.tornadoproject.com, or FEMA at (800) 480-2520.

       

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