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Oklahoma Officials Moving Forward with School Storm Shelter Program Following two deadly EF5 tornadoes within 11 days—and questions about why an estimated 1,600 Oklahoma schools are not equipped with storm shelters—state officials are moving forward with a privately funded program to provide shelters to schools that don't already have them.Many schools built in the state in recent years were constructed with some sort of shelter, and the "Shelter Oklahoma Schools" program aims to fill in the gaps in older facilities and their communities. The devastating EF5 tornado that hit Newcastle, Shawnee and Moore, Okla., on May 20 claimed at least 24 lives, including seven children who were in the Plaza Towers Elementary School when the storm struck the facility. A second tornado hit the Oklahoma City area on May 31 and claimed at least 18 more lives. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin announced last week the state will encourage but not require residents to build safe rooms or tornado shelters following the deadly storms. Fallin said she hoped that when local school districts make decisions on new school construction, they consider such facilities, although she said cost is a consideration. To date, private donations to the “Shelter Oklahoma Schools” program have topped $1.7 million. "This is a large undertaking and it is going to take a large response from all of the citizens of Oklahoma," State Rep. Jon Eichols told News Channel 4. "Big problems call for big solutions. Often people look at how hard a task is and you have two options: number one you can choose not to try or number two, you can choose to do something." Moore School District Superintendent Susan Pierce told CBS News the district would rebuild the Plaza Towers and Briarwood elementary schools after they were destroyed by the May 20 tornado. Moore’s school system has experience in rebuilding schools: on May 3, 1999, a tornado destroyed Kelley Elementary School but classes had already been dismissed for the day and there were no injuries. The school was rebuilt on the same foundation and its hallways were made into safe rooms where overhead doors can be shut to enclose the halls as tornados pass overhead. “We've done this before,” Pierce said. “We're working on some kind of similar plan.” Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis said he favors an ordinance that will require storm shelters or safe rooms to be included in new construction for single-family homes and multi-family facilities in the suburb of Oklahoma City. “We’ll try to get it passed as soon as I can,” he told Fox 6 News. The 2015 International Building Code, developed by ICC Members, will require storm shelters in newly built schools. In 2008, the Code Council and the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) completed publication of ICC 500: ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters. The standard addresses small, residential safe rooms in residences as well as large community storm shelters to protect people from the violent winds of hurricanes and tornadoes. Shelters built to the standard can be designed to withstand wind speeds up to 250 mph, which is a requirement in Oklahoma as well as Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Ohio, and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Tornado storm shelters are required to house people for two hours and include minimum requirements for ventilation, sanitation facilities, a fire extinguisher, lighting and other minimal power needs. A storm shelter does not need to be a separate space or structure. A shelter can be a “hardened” room inside a building that is used normally for other purposes. The Public Comment Draft of the 2014 version of ICC 500 is currently available on the Code Council’s website for review. The ICC Consensus Committee on Storm Shelters (IS-STM) has held five public meetings to consider public proposals to the standard. ICC 500-2014 is intended to be completed for reference in the 2015 International Codes. Additional resources for safe rooms include High Wind Safe Rooms and a Tale of Two Homes. |
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Honorary Member — Call for Nominations
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2013 Code of Honor Scholarship Application Period Now Open  The scholarship application period is now open and will close on Friday, July 12. Code of Honor professional development scholarships help to ensure the I-Codes reflect the consensus view of officials at all levels of government by providing funding to Governmental Member Voting Representatives seeking to attend and participate in the Public Comment Hearings, Oct. 2–10, in Atlantic City, N.J. Last year, 93 scholarships were awarded to Governmental Member Voting Representatives.Pictured are the 2012 Code of Honor Scholarship recipients at the Code Council Annual Conference in Portland, Ore. |
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Washington, Mo., Reports Sharp Increase in The Washington Building Department issued three times as many permits for single-family homes in 2012 compared to the year before. There were 21 single-family home permits issued last year with a total estimated construction cost of $5,071,532. In 2011, the department processed seven permits for homes valued at $1,517,032. Fourteen permits were issued for single-family attached units, or duplexes, in 2012 with a combined value of $2,055,434 compared to six permits for duplex units in 2011. Overall, the department issued 1,332 permits in 2012. |
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| Lyon County, Nev., and Yerington Paiute Tribe Eye Pact on Building Permits and Inspections Lyon County and the Yerington Paiute Tribe are moving toward an inter-local agreement through which the Lyon County Building Department would perform building inspections and issue building permits for the tribe. Lyon County Manager Jeff Page said several months ago a contractor who was building on the Yerington reservation or colony had approached the county building department about doing inspections. Page also said a few months ago new Tribal Chairman Delmar Stevens talked to him about a possible agreement for building inspections on tribal properties. A draft agreement was before the Lyon County Commissioners last month but the item was continued because the tribe’s attorney wanted to make some minor changes in the agreement. Read more from RGJ.com |
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The ICC Board of Directors is requesting nominations for 2013 Honorary Members. An Honorary Member is a person who has rendered outstanding service to the ICC. The Honorary Member Committee will consider submitted nominations when compiling its list of candidates.