Grants to fund 10 new storm shelters in county

Ten new storm shelters will be placed throughout the county over the next three years.
Franklin County Emergency Management Agency Director Roy Gober told county commissioners Monday that he had been notified that the county had been approved for grants that will enable the shelters to be built.
The total cost of the projects will be about $660,000, with the county responsible for 25 percent of that total. The county will be able to spread the work over three years and use some in-kind work for matching funds.
“We won’t ever get storm shelters of this magnitude for 25 cents on the dollar ever again,” Gober said.
Four of the shelters will hold 80 people and the remaining six shelters will hold 48 people.
“But if an EF5 tornado is coming, you can get 150 people in the 80-person shelters,” Gober said. “They’re not going to argue about the five square feet per person.”
The shelters’ sizes were based on the populations they’ll serve.
The shelters will be built at the fire departments in Pleasant Site, East Franklin, Burnout, Tharptown, Gravel Hill, Frankfort, Frog Pond and Blue Springs. The two other shelters will be built across from Belgreen High School and at the Union Community Center.
Federal funding is provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Bids will be accepted soon, but Gober hopes to use similar structures as those already in place across the county.
“We know the one at Phil Campbell withstood an EF-5 tornado,” he said.