Legislation that will help Kentuckians build weather-safe rooms in their homes was given the green light Thursday by the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee.
Senate Bill 11's sponsor, Senator Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, said the proposed residential safe room rebate program would minimize deaths associated with growing tornadic activity throughout the state.
“I think that all of us have to recognize that weather patterns have changed over the last decade, and Kentucky is now part of a tornado alley, so to speak,” he said while presenting his bill to the panel. “In fact, over the last decade we would average between 21 and 28 tornadoes a year. In 2024, we had 55 tornadoes during that period.”
Senate Bill 11 calls for a pilot program to help Kentuckians build residential safe rooms. It would establish a safe room rebate fund to provide rebates of 50 percent of the costs incurred in constructing or installing a residential safe room, not to exceed $5,000.
The rooms must meet Federal Emergency Management Agency and International Code Council standards, and they must be open to communities during emergencies.
Meredith said the mayor in Morgantown, Mayor Billy Phelps, sparked his interest in the measure. The community received a large grant for a community storm shelter, but Phelps recognized that it’s difficult for some residents in rural areas to travel great distances to a community shelter.
The average residential storm shelter safety room costs approximately $10,000, and homeowners would be reimbursed for the shelters after agreeing to allow others in the area to use them. Additionally, there could be standalone shelters, Meredith said.
“If you had $200,000, you could actually build 40 storm shelters. It certainly addresses the uniqueness of rural issues – of travel distance and sparsely populated areas,” he said.
Meredith said staff from the Kentucky League of Cities and the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management helped create the legislation.
Senate Bill 11 passed out of committee on a 10-0 vote and now advances to the full Senate.
Senator Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield. (LRC photo)
