Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Warnings

If you live in a part of the country where natural disasters occur, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones, then you may be wondering how to build a refuge room in your home or work. A refuge room can protect and protect you in the event of a hurricane and can be built in one part of your home or office.

Steps

1. 1 Find out where is the best place to build a hideout room. These are places such as: the basement of a building, a concrete slab of the foundation, for example, in a garage or in a room that is located on the first floor of a building.
2. 2 Make sure the room can withstand not only strong gusts of wind, but also debris that will fly around.
   • Make sure the refuge room is securely anchored so that it will not rise or roll over.
   • It is worth designing walls, doors and ceilings so that they can withstand and not break in front of powerful gusts of wind, as well as withstand the penetration of flying or falling debris.
   • Do not forget about the places to which the room adjoins, they must also withstand the wind.
3. 3 If you live in an area where there is not only strong winds but also heavy rainfall, design an underground refuge room with flooding in mind that needs to be prevented.
4. 4 Think about the type of hideout room you want to build.
   • The courtyard shelter is designed to be buried and set underground. One outer door opens above the ground, and you can purchase one that will fit the required number of people. Steel is the preferred choice because concrete or fiberglass shelters are at risk of cracking.
   • Ground shelters can be attached to the outside of the house, or they can be placed inside. Some of them can be designed in such a way that they will be completely invisible to the untrained eye, while others are large enough to accommodate all people from an office or church.
5. 5 Find building plans for the hideout rooms, especially on http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/saferoom/shplans/. You can use them to create your own hideout room or collaborate with a contractor during construction.
6. 6 Check out the guidelines for the design and construction of public shelters. This is necessary if you are planning to build a shelter designed to protect more than 12 people.
7. 7 Buy ICC 500: 2008 Safety Shelter Design and Construction Standard in downloadable format at http://www.iccsafe.org/Store/Pages/Product.aspx?id=8850P08_PD-X-SS-P-2008-000001 that can help you plan your room - a shelter according to standards. The International Code Council (ICC) is an international organization that sets standards that are valid around the world.
8. 8 Collect the necessary materials and start building your room.
   • Consider using special power-operated mounts that will securely anchor the perimeter walls to avoid horizontal displacement.
   • For vertical offset, look for fasteners at Simpson Strong Tie.
   • Attach the ceiling and walls to the bottom slab of the building.
   • Place two layers of plywood inside the room. Behind the plywood layer, you can place a layer of steel or Kevlar.
9. 9 Install a 5 cm door with a locking pin.
10. 10 Ready.

Tips

• Don't forget about ventilation.
• For funding opportunities, visit: http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/saferoom/funding.shtm if you are building a secure community building.

Warnings

• It is recommended that you study the FEMA Code so that you can rely primarily on it to help you save your family during a disaster. Simple tips can save lives, for example: Try to keep the door open inward rather than outward due to possible accumulated debris outside the door. In addition, it is important to correctly position the ventilation system, and more. The building code contains many subtleties that you need to familiarize yourself with before starting construction.