Taking Shelter From the Storm:
Building a Safe Room For Your Home or Small Business
FEMA L-233 / December 2008

Extreme windstorms such as tornadoes and hurricanes pose a serious threat to 
buildings and their 
occupants in many areas of the United States. Tornadoes strong enough to 
damage roofs, destroy 
mobile homes, snap or uproot large trees, and turn debris into damaging 
windborne missiles have 
occurred in virtually every state. Hurricanes have affected all Atlantic and 
Gulf of Mexico coastal areas 
in the United States, as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 
have also resulted in severe 
building damage and loss of lives. Hawaii has also been affected by 
hurricanes. Even states not 
normally considered susceptible to extreme windstorms include areas 
threatened by dangerous high 
winds. These areas, typically near mountain ranges, include the Pacific 
Northwest coast.
Do You Need a Safe Room?
The wind zone map on this page shows how the frequency and strength of 
extreme windstorms vary 
across the United States. This map is based on 40 years of tornado history 
and over 100 years of 
hurricane history. Zone IV, the darkest area on the map, has experienced both 
the greatest number of 
tornadoes and the strongest tornadoes. As shown by the map key, wind speeds 
in Zone IV can be as 
high as 250 mph. The tornado hazard in Zone III, while not as great as in 
Zone IV, is still significant. In 
addition, Zone III includes coastal areas susceptible to hurricanes for which 
new hazard maps have 
been prepared (see FEMA 361, Design and Construction Guidance for Community 
Safe Rooms, Second 
Edition, 2008).
Your home or small business was probably built in accordance with local 
building codes that consider 
the effects of minimum design winds. These are winds that, according to 
building code requirements, 
your residence or building must be able to withstand. However, a tornado or 
hurricane can often 
cause winds much greater than those on which local building code requirements 
are based. Your 
house may be built to code, but that does not mean that it can withstand 
winds from extreme 
events and provide life-safety protection for those inside. If you are 
concerned about wind hazards 
where you live, especially if you live in Wind Zones III or IV, you should 
consider building a safe room.
Basis of Safe Room Design
The purpose of an extreme-wind safe room is to provide a space where you, 
your family, or your co-
workers can survive a tornado or hurricane with little or no injury. You can 
build a safe room in one of 
several places in your home or small business  in the basement, beneath a 
concrete slab-on-grade 
foundation or garage floor, or in an interior room on the first floor; under 
certain conditions, a safe 
room may also be constructed on an elevated foundation. Safe rooms built 
below ground level 
provide the greatest protection, but a safe room built in a first-floor 
interior room can also provide the 
necessary protection. Post-disaster assessments conducted after tornadoes and 
hurricanes continue 
to observe the same performance of buildings (even lightly engineered 
structures); for example, an 
interior room of a severely damaged house or small building is still standing 
when little of the structure 
remains above ground.
For a room to provide near-absolute life safety protection for its occupants, 
the room or space must 
be able to withstand the forces exerted by extreme winds and remain standing, 
even if the rest of the 
building is severely damaged. Therefore:
-  The safe room must be adequately anchored to resist overturning and 
uplift.
- The walls, ceiling, and door of the safe room must withstand wind pressure 
and resist penetration by 
windborne missiles and falling debris.
 -The connections between all parts of the safe room must be strong enough to 
resist the wind forces 
without failing.
 - If sections of either interior or exterior house or small business walls 
are used as walls of the safe 
room, they should be separated from the structure of the house or small 
business, so that damage to 
the house or small business will not cause damage to the safe room.
- The safe room must be located outside of areas with a high risk of flooding 
or storm surge 
inundation.
The safe room booklet described on the other side of this brochure provides 
the information that you 
or your contractor will need to build a safe room that meets these criteria.
Did You Know
Almost every state in the United States is subject to tornadoes, hurricanes, 
or both. These extreme 
windstorms can cause extensive damage to buildings, and they threaten the 
lives of building 
occupants.
FEMA, in cooperation with the Wind Engineering Research Center of Texas Tech 
University, has 
developed designs for wind safe rooms that can be built inside homes or small 
businesses.
These safe rooms are designed to provide near-absolute protection from the 
forces of extreme 
winds as high as 250 mph, and from the impacts from associated windborne 
debris.
FEMA has prepared Taking Shelter From the Storm: Building a Safe Room For 
Your Home or Small 
Business for homeowners and builders.  

The booklet includes:
-  A risk assessment worksheet for homeowners and small business owners
-  Guidance for selecting a safe room design
-  Detailed construction plans for builders and contractors
-  Cost estimates
[Begin figures]
Image of the FEMA 320 cover. 
Image of the Wind Zone worksheet which helps homeowners and small business 
owners determine 
their risk from extreme winds and assist them in their consideration of a 
safe room.
Detailed construction plans provide all the information a builder or 
contractor needs to build a safe 
room.
Illustration of a cross section: typical crawlspace foundation, with safe 
room.
[End figures]
Want To Learn More?
Taking Shelter From the Storm: Building a Safe Room For Your Home or Small 
Business, FEMA 
publication 320 (booklet and construction plans), is available from the FEMA 
Publications and 
Distribution Facility (1-800-480-2520).  
FEMA 320 is also available on the FEMA website 
(http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1536). The construction plans 
are also available 
separately on the FEMA website 
(http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/saferoom/shplans).
For additional information, please call the FEMA helpline at (866) 927-2104 
(toll free) or email Saferoom@dhs.gov