Ever Seen One of These? A Tornado Safe Room For Horses
Photo courtesy of Mary Ellen Hickman.
By: Brittany Bevis
With the recent unpredictable weather the central and southern US has been receiving lately, responsible horse owners across the country are busily reviewing their evacuation plans and survival scenarios in case of an extreme weather emergency. Thankfully, weather prediction and reporting has become increasingly more reliable over the past few years. However, when it comes to the protection of your horses and other animals, safety strategies remain fairly limited.
In case of an impending hit by a tornado, what’s the best course of action for your horse? Some say the best option is to keep animals inside the barn to prevent injury from flying debris. Others insist the best chance for survival comes when horses are turned loose into an open field.
Earlier this week, we spoke with Oklahoma resident and horse owner, Mary Ellen Hickman, who shared some information about her recently completed, above-ground shelter for her horses. Located just outside of the main barn area, Hickman’s “Equine Safe Room” is rated to withstand a F5 tornado. The building was designed to hold ten horses in tie stalls in a slant-trainer load format.
Under construction. Photo courtesy of Mary Ellen Hickman.
Check out our Q&A below with Hickman to learn more about this unique “Equine Safe Room.”
Q- Please explain how the idea for this horse shelter came about.
A- “After the devastating tornado in Moore, OK. in 2014, we knew we had to do something to help protect our animals. The Moore tornado crossed I-35 at exit 116. We live right off exit 114. As we watched it just miss our place, we were terrified. After the storm, we had to drive through the devastation to get to Oklahoma City. It was the worst thing I have ever witnessed. That’s when I began the research on constructing a safe room.”
Q- Give us some of the construction specs and describe the features that will allow horses to survive a tornado.
A- “Our safe room room was built using the FEMA specs for a F5 safe room.”
The completed safe room. Photo courtesy of Mary Ellen Hickman.
Q- Did an outside company build this for you and had they ever heard of anything like this being constructed before? Did they come up with the initial design?
A- “[Terry Scrivner] A person that had built safe rooms for people built this one. I designed the inside of the room. To my knowledge, this is the first like this above-ground. I designed the entire structure.”
Q- Living in Oklahoma, has your farm been affected by tornados in the past?
A- “We’ve had minimal damage from tornadoes; we’ve had [fallen] trees and some [damaged] fence.
Q- In the case of a near-direct hit, do you have a feature in place that would allow the horses to get out if the main door was blocked? If not, is there a place to store feed and access to water within?
A- “Oklahoma has a great warning system for tornadoes. If it looks like a tornado is possible, we will move the horses into the safe room. It will be just like being in a horse trailer with hay in front of each horse. We will have water in containers in the safe room also. The safe room is just a temporary place until the storm passes.”
Room to hold ten horses in a slant-load trailer style. Photo courtesy of Mary Ellen Hickman.
What’s the cost for a safe room like this? Hickman says the cost was $300 per lineal feet for eight foot walls and a 4 foot by 7 foot storm door with 3 dead bolts. Additional extras inside the structure weren’t included in the overall price.
If you’d like more information about building your own safe room, either for horses or humans, click here to view FEMA guidelines.
Testing out the newly completed shelter. It’s cozy! Photo courtesy of Mary Ellen Hickman.
