The Alabama Emergency Management Agency is currently taking applications (through August 16, 2011) to provide financial assistance for the purpose of constructing individual storm shelters. Although this is absolutely a step in the right direction, it does not adequately alleviate Tuscaloosa's vulnerability to tornados for two reasons. First, it is unlikely that the majority of residents will take advantage of this opportunity to construct individual storm shelters. Some residents may not be able to afford the expense of a personal storm shelter, and some properties may not be conducive to adding a storm shelter. Second, the limited funds that will be allocated towards the construction of storm shelters will not be able to support enough individual storm shelters to protect Tuscaloosa.

Therefore, it makes sense to think about community storm shelters. These constructs could serve other purposes under normal circumstances (such as community recreation centers, small neighborhood shopping centers, schools, or churches), but could be used as community storm shelters prior to and during tornado warnings. Perhaps a percentage of the funding for storm shelters could be for incorporating community storm shelters into certain areas throughout the city, both residential and commercial. It will be challenging to determine how many community storm shelters should be constructed, and where they should be located given a limited budget. But I know that there are professors at the University who conduct research related to these issues and who are looking for ways to volunteer their expertise towards rebuilding Tuscaloosa.

In closing, Tuscaloosa without community storm shelters is like New Orleans without levee system or Boston without snow plows. So one transformative project that I would like to see would be to incorporate community storm shelters into the Plan for rebuilding a safer Tuscaloosa.