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Governor Fallin on Facebook: www.facebook.com/GovernorMaryFallin Governor Fallin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GovMaryFallin September 28, 2011 Governor Fallin, Emergency Management Officials Announce Safe Room Rebate Program
OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin kicked off the Sooner Safe - Safe Room
Rebate Program today during a news conference at the Oklahoma Capitol.
With this announcement, more than $1 million in rebates were made available to
Oklahoma homeowners for the construction of individual safe rooms and storm
shelters. Officials anticipate the funding will help deliver about 500 safe
rooms.
“I urge all Oklahomans to take every step possible in preparing for severe
weather,” Fallin said. “Safe rooms offer an invaluable way to protect your
family during a storm and the Sooner Safe - Safe Room Rebate Program can help
Oklahoma homeowners in accomplishing that goal.”
The program is a partnership between the state and federal government. The
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) delivered the funding, the Oklahoma
Department of Emergency Management will manage the program, and
OK.gov is administering the Web site portal where Oklahomans can register to
be eligible for the rebates.
“We’re pleased to be bringing this statewide program back to Oklahoma,”
Oklahoma Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood said. “We appreciate all
the work of our partners in helping to make this happen.”
The program provides a 75-percent rebate – up to $2,000 – to eligible
Oklahomans who install above-ground or below-ground safe rooms. To apply for
the rebate, Oklahomans should register online at
www.soonersafe.ok.gov. Recipients will be selected by random computer
drawing annually.
Funding priority will be given to residents whose homes were destroyed in
tornadoes that garnered presidential disaster declaration for individual
assistance each year. For example, this program year, so far, the April 14,
2011 Tushka tornado and May 22-25, 2011 tornadoes in central and northeastern
Oklahoma qualify for funding priority.
The 2011 program drawing is set for Jan. 3, 2012. Following the annual
drawing, recipients will be notified by e-mail and given until September 30 of
each year to construct the safe room to FEMA standards and submit all required
documentation to the state.
To meet FEMA requirements, safe rooms cannot be installed prior to the rebate
drawing and notification period in order to be eligible for the program.
Register Online for the Rebate Program
The registration process is easy. To register, go online to
www.soonersafe.ok.gov. The following information is needed:
· Name and e-mail address
· Property physical address
· Year home was built
· FEMA registration number, if applicable, and if home was destroyed
Safe rooms save lives
Following the 1999 and 2003 Oklahoma tornado outbreaks, OEM worked with FEMA
to help fund nearly 10,000 individual above and below ground safe rooms across
the state through a rebate program. Since that time safe room programs have
been emphasized at the local level.
Independent of this statewide initiative, community-based individual safe room
rebate programs also will continue. These programs require municipalities and
counties to serve as the grant applicant; to manage the program and be
responsible for securing the 25 percent funding match.
What qualifies as a safe room?
For the purposes of this program, the term safe room will include any above or
below ground shelter which meets or exceeds FEMA 320 guidelines for building a
residential safe room.
For more information about safe rooms or to download a copy of FEMA
Publication 320, which contains recommended construction plans for safe rooms,
visit the FEMA website www.fema.gov/mit/saferoom.
Editor’s Note. The following contacts are available for more information:
Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management
Michelann Ooten, Deputy Director; (405) 205-1879 mobile
Keli Cain, Public Information Specialist; (405) 590-0120 mobile
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