Abstract
The construction and economic aspects of two demonstration in-home hurricane resistant retrofit rooms are presented in this paper. The retrofit rooms are a stepped down economic alternative to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Torando Safe Room, with reasonable hurricane protection. The retrofitting is achieved through reinforcing existing walls and roofs of typical small interior rooms with plywood sheets, steel plates, anchor bolts, and hurricane straps. The in-house shelter offers significant occupant protection and reduces the demand on public shelters in the event of a Category 5 hurricane or F2 level tornado. The smaller size of the Hurricane Rooms makes them well suited to typical small interior spaces in existing homes. The relative construction aspects of plywood versus steel plate wall and ceiling retrofitting are discussed. The average material and labor cost of the two hurricane Retrofit Rooms was about $3100, almost half of the typical cost for a FEMA Tornado Safe Room.
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