Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Seminar Set On Tornado Safe Rooms

Tornado Safe Rooms and Wind Resistant Construction is the topic of a seminar open to the public and building professionals on Saturday, January 29, at 2:30 p.m. at the Jones Performing Arts Center on the Ouachita Baptist University campus in Arkadelphia.

Dr. Ernst Kiesling, a leading wind researcher and head of the team of Texas Tech's shelter program, will be the keynote speaker. His team developed the shelter designs for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) publication, Taking Shelter From the Storm, which includes construction plans and cost estimates for safe rooms.

Earlier that morning, at 10:00, Simpson Strong Tie Co. engineer Randy Shackleford will hold a tornado and wind resistant construction workshop in the Jones Performing Arts Center.

Simpson Strong Tie is a world leader in wood-to-wood, wood-to-concrete and wood-to-masonry connectors and wind resistant products, according to a news release from the Clark County Extension Service, and helps people build safer structures economically.

Tours of a safe room shelter will be conducted on the parking lot. Storm cellar product information will be available.

The event is hosted by Project Impactcity of Arkadelphia, a National FEMA initiative. Project Impact motivates public and private sector participation in actions to make cities more resistant to floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and other costly natural hazards.

For more information contact Linda Thompson, Project Impact Coordinator, at 246-1814 or Barbara Holt at Clark County Cooperative Extension Service, 246-2281.