Storm Shelter vs. Safe Room

As you research builders and installers of storm shelters, you may run across a couple of terms that can cause some confusion. Should you buy a storm shelter or a safe room? Or is there really any difference at all?

Simply put a safe room, as defined by FEMA standards, is a storm shelter. But a storm shelter may not be a safe room. Still confused? Here's how FEMA defines both in their Pub. 361 (Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes, March 2015).

"FEMA defines 'safe rooms' as buildings or portions thereof that comply with the criteria described in this publication {Pub. 361}. ICC 500 defines 'storm shelters' as buildings or portion thereof that comply with ICC 500.  Though similar, there are important differences. All safe room criteria in FEMA P-361 meet the storm shelter requirements of the ICC 500, but FEMA P-361 includes a few design and performance criteria that are more conservative than those in the ICC 500."

If a builder meets FEMA Pub. 361's more stringent engineering requirements, the shelter may be referred to as a "safe room", providing near-absolute protection for the occupants during tornadoes and hurricanes. If a builder meets the ICC 500 requirements, but falls short of FEMA Pub. 361 stipulations, the resulting shelter is not a safe room...it should be referred to as a storm shelter.

So, what's a Safe Shed? A safe room or a storm shelter? Good question. Although we refer to our shelters as tornado and/or storm shelters, we do meet the "safe room" engineering requirements of FEMA Pub. 361.

If a Safe Shed is a "safe room", why don't you call it a "safe room"? Another good question. We don't use the term "safe room" because the average consumer doesn't use that term. If we want to be found on the internet, and help people understand what we're selling, we've discovered that using the term "storm shelter" or "tornado shelter" does a better job. Folks don't go to Google and search for "safe rooms" when they're looking for a tornado shelter. People usually think the term "safe room" refers to a hardened room inside their home where they would hunker down if someone tried to break in, like Jodie Foster in the movie "Panic Room" or the family under attack in the movie "The Purge".

You can rest assured that a Safe Shed DOES meet the strict FEMA engineering requirements to provide near-absolute protection for you and your family. Whether you call it a tornado shelter, a storm shelter, or a safe room, if you're looking for protection against EF5 tornadoes, we've got you covered!