LEXINGTON, Ky. — In Lexington, workers at the city’s recycling plant are now safer in the event of severe weather.
A 10 by 48 foot steel shelter is now onsite and provides a refuge for nearly 100 people during severe thunderstorms and can withstand an EF5 tornado.
It doesn’t look like much, but the steel shelter now installed at the Lexington Recycling Center is one of the safest places to be in the event of a tornado.
“This provides a good safe place to shelter if it came down to it. This building is incredibly engineered, it’s anchored extremely deep,” said Lexington Emergency Manager Tim Brandewie.
Brandewie says it’s similar to another shelter installed at the Versailles Road government campus. He says the 80 workers at this recycling plant are at high risk during storms because of the building’s structure and materials.
“It’s very vulnerable to wind damage, that sheet metal can be peeled off easily and once the winds get inside a building like that it will pretty much explode outwards,” Brandewie said.
Brandewie says the recycling center has taken damage many times over the years because of high winds. This shelter with lights, a bathroom and ADA accessibility is a space of refuge.
“I know for the people in this building, they’ve been quite concerned because they’re well aware of the history over here,” Brandewie said.
The shelter is made of solid ¼-inch welded steel, is bolted into the ground and its hut shape makes it resilient to straight line winds and up to an EF5 tornado.
“Anytime we have these strong thunderstorms come through there is a possibility of an isolated drop-down tornado,” Brandewie said.
While not everyone can have a storm shelter, regular citizens can take measures to be prepared when Mother Nature roars her ugly head.
“Stay alert, have a plan, know where you’re going to go in your house. If you do get a tornado alert, make sure everyone in your family knows,” Brandewie said.
The shelter cost about $124,000 to build and install, most of the funding came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The remaining funds came from state grants and the city of Lexington.