Times-Journal | Safe Room Problem Must Be Figured -- Soon

Safe Room Problem Must Be Figured -- Soon
Times-Journal | September 5, 2011

The Times-Journal's Lindsay Slater reported last week that it remains to be seen whether a "temporary" safe room will remain on the Plainview School campus after portable classrooms are gone.

The back story on this: The Federal Emergency Management Agency agreed to pay the majority of the cost for safe rooms - essentially buildings made of reinforced concrete - at four Alabama schools affected by the April 27 tornado outbreak.

We were glad to hear Plainview would be getting such a room at little cost to the DeKalb County school system, but the devil as always was in the details.

FEMA, it seems, only will pay for Plainview to have a safe room while portables are on campus. Once the campus is rebuilt, the onus is on the county school system to either pay FEMA back for the building, or sell it, or have it demolished.

If demolition is the choice - and it's the best of three bad options for the school system - then FEMA would cover that cost, too. So, taxpayers across the country will foot two big bills for these safe rooms.

Superintendent Charles Warren correctly pointed out that the "ridiculous" situation is a "complete waste of taxpayer money."

A FEMA spokesman told the Times-Journal on Friday that the government relief agency takes the school board's concerns "seriously" and is looking at other alternatives for what to do about the $500,000 safe room once the Plainview portables are no longer needed.

The pressure is mounting for FEMA to come up with a solution. U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, said the federal government should defer to local authorities "as you want to make sure that the rules do not run counter to common sense. This clearly appears to be one of those cases."

Aderholt promised to work with Warren, and we're glad to see that.

FEMA has for the most part been a great asset to DeKalb County during the recovery efforts. The Plainview safe room issue, however, has been a stumble. We're confident a solution can be reached that is most efficient for everybody while still keeping the students' safety as the No. 1 priority.

For more information, click here.