​Residential Tornado Shelter Information and Listings

Homeowner Information ​for Residential Tornado Shelters

Financing and Rebate programs

Storm Shelter or Safe Room?

You'll see the terms "storm shelter" and "safe room" used in advertisements, news articles, and elsewhere, frequently used interchangeably.  But the NSSA wants consumers to understand that there is a very real-world difference between the two terms.

The term "storm shelter" is used by the International Building Code

The FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) term "Safe Room" means the structure meets the FEMA P-361 or P-320 standards as well as the requirements of the ICC-500.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines a “safe room” as a building or portions thereof that comply with the criteria described in FEMA P-361, Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes, Guidance for Community and Residential Safe Rooms. The International Code Council (ICC) defines a “tornado shelter” as a building or portions thereof that comply with the ICC/NSSA 500 Standard for the Design and Construction of Tornado Shelters. FEMA P-361 incorporates the requirements of ICC/NSSA 500 and adds specific technical criteria and best practices that go beyond the minimum requirements of ICC/NSSA 500. Producer Members of the NSSA meets the criteria for both publications, thus both terms may appear on our website

FEMA defines a Residential Tornado Shelter as serving “occupants of dwelling units” and has an occupant load not exceeding 16 persons. Occupant load is further defined for tornado use or hurricane use or both. The NSSA Producer Member residential designs are for tornado use only. Required floor space for residential tornado use by one or two family dwellings is no less than 3 square feet per person. The required floor space for “other residential uses”, like small businesses or rural field offices, must allow 5 square feet per person as a minimum and the siting of the safe room should follow Community siting requirements.

Tornado shelter Resources

Important Note: The tornado shelter must be located within 150 feet of an exterior door of your residence. When siting a tornado shelter, large objects (towers, taller buildings) which potentially may fall on the tornado shelter must be accounted for, as the tornado shelter design criteria will not compensate for these impact loads. Siting the tornado shelter below ground or below the design flood elevation is not recommended.

FEMA defines a tornado shelter as providing “near absolute protection” based on their current knowledge of tornadoes and hurricanes. The ground-level wind speed for an EF-5 tornado is felt to be less than 250 mph. Tornado shelters built to FEMA guidelines are designed to withstand the winds of an EF-5 tornado and occupants will have a very high probability of being protected from injury or death.

Historical Tornado Data By Month

​Locating A Producer

​It is no longer necessary to just locate a Producer Member or manufacturer that is close to where you live.
Modern residential safe room are easily transported to any location in the US and installed.

Tips For Searching For The Right Tornado Shelter and Producer

Step #1 – Decide on the type and location that is right for you based on the following information:

• Type of construction material – Steel or Concrete
• Above or Below Ground
• Size of Tornado Shelter offered

Step #2 – Then select from the Producers below who meet your criteria and visit their websites.
Step #3– Make a list of those Producer you would like to call for more information and pricing.