The Seneca R-7 School District will receive nearly $1.5 million in federal mitigation grants to construct a community tornado safe room.
On Friday, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt announced the state has received $15.8 million in federal grants for 19 community projects ranging from tornado shelters and buyouts to low water crossings and buried utility lines. The State Emergency Management Agency will hold a mitigation grant award day Tuesday to award the grants and discuss project requirements.
“I congratulate these communities on their innovative projects to protect Missourians and move them out of hazardous conditions,” Blunt said in a prepared statement. “Almost all of the projects were as a direct result of recent natural disaster declarations. Without the federal assistance, these projects would cost the communities and school districts more than $20.3 million.”
“Here in Tornado Alley, it would be wonderful if every community had something like this, a safe haven for the public,” said Rick Cook, Seneca superintendent.
The safe room will be built at the proposed Intermediate School, which is part of an upcoming bond issue. Cook said building the safe room at the school gym would reduce construction costs by $1.2 million.
The 13,600-square-foot building, Cook said, will house 1,984 students and 727 staff and community residents during school hours. After school hours, the safe room can house up to 2,711 people who live within a two-mile radius.
Seneca will receive $1,492,214, with the total project to cost $1,989,618, Cook said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay 75 percent of the project costs, with the school district to pick up the remainder.
On Tuesday, Cook will travel to Jefferson City for the award day and to file paperwork for the project.
Later that evening, the Seneca R-7 School Board will act on a proposal to dedicate the safe room to emergency responders, firefighters, storm spotters, law enforcement and emergency management personnel who responded to the May 10 tornado which claimed the lives of 14 people, the majority along Missouri Highway 43 and Iris Road just north of Seneca. The building will also be dedicated to the families of those who lost loved ones in the twister.
“We’re very excited,” Cook said. “This project is an answered prayer for our community. I can’t express how thrilled we are to get this in our community.”
According to Blunt, the tornado saferooms must be designed and built to FEMA standards.
Other community tornado shelter projects in the state include the school districts of Van Buren, Richards, Dora and Ralls County, as well as the communities of Seymour and Buffalo. Residential buyout projects include Pacific, Piedmont, Wayne County, Ellington, Doniphan, Fenton, Poplar Bluff, and Rogersville. Warren and Webster counties have low water crossing replacement projects going, while Independence City Power and Light is doing a buried electric line project.
Jefferson City, Mo. —
