Tornado devastation puts focus on safe rooms

The devastation this week in Moore, Okla., has brought renewed attention to the availability of safe rooms at schools. Tornado-safe rooms have been constructed at 58 schools or community sites in Missouri since 2004, according to the state emergency management agency, and 86 more are in the planning stages. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says nearly all of the tornado-safe rooms are being built in rural areas, most in the southern part of the state. No such safe rooms have been built in the St. Louis area — at least none using federal hazard mitigation money.