Tornado Resistant Dome Buildings in Oklahoma
| Updated: 5/11/2011 10:23 pm |
Published: 5/11/2011 10:06 pm
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Monday night we showed you how steel framing can help you and your home survive a twister. While steel framing is stronger than wood, concrete dome homes or above ground shelters offer up your best defense in the eye of an intense storm.
Today I traveled to Beggs, Oklahoma, a town comprised of only about fifteen hundred people. But the very building that houses their Beggs High School Demons basketball team is one of the safest places in the state.
Steve Lynch, a Safety Coordinator at Beggs School District, told me the Event Center was built to withstand an F-5 tornado. If they can get a half hour heads up on a storm, every student can be bussed inside.
"My kids go to school here and especially living in tornado alley you know your kids are going to be safe at school."
The event center is a concrete dome, and it's about 6 inches thick all the way around.
It's protecting not just students, but open to the entire community in the event of severe weather.
Dome homes, are reasonably priced when compared to traditional wood framing, but an Oklahoma City based company tells me the general public is still uncomfortable with the look.
Melissa Cuthbert with Dome Dreams says, "If the consumer could just get past that part of it, we can make them look square from the outside if that's what you want."
But choosing structure over style isn't that common in Oklahoma, despite the guarantee that these structures will resist tornadic winds.
According to Dome Dreams, the average cost of a dome home is $95.00 a square foot. The cost of a traditional homes is between $95.00 to $155.00 a square foot.
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