POWERGRAMS

PAG E 5 SAFETY The lives of many Alabama Power employees were forever changed following the tornadoes that ripped through the heart of Alabama on April 27, 2011. While Mother Nature cannot be fooled, there are ways to overcome her fury. One measure Alabama Power has adopted with a vengeance the past four years is the construction of tornado shelters across the state. Soon after an EF4 twister ravaged Tuscaloosa and nearly struck the crew headquarters, Western Division Vice President Mark Crews met with other company officials to implement a better severe weather plan. In less than four years, nearly 150 interior and exterior shelters have been built, the first being constructed in Tuscaloosa three years ago. "It's a big feather in our cap," said Engineering Coordinator Todd Weeks. "What other company would put this kind of investment into protecting its employees?" Alabama Power has installed 93 exterior shelters and 51 interior shelters since 2011. The effort began with an advisory team that included an Alabama Power structural engineer, registered architect, facilities manager and general contractor to research and choose a shelter based on code compliance, comfort, safety, quality construction and design, Weeks said. Safe- T-Shelter of Danville was chosen as the supplier for its shelters tested to withstand winds and debris consistent with an EF5 tornado. "The wind speed used for our design was 255 mph and the construction is of all ¼-inch steel plate," Weeks said. "This has never been penetrated in any test. These shelters also meet any and all local, state and federal standards." The shelters were sized using information provided by Human Resources to Properties Services based on the number of employees reporting to each company facility. The numbers were adjusted considering the average number of visitors and customers at each office or plant. The shelters were built giving priority to the historic incidence of tornadoes in each division, as well as annual budget constraints. In 2011, Western Division shelters were installed, in 2012 the Birmingham Division, in 2013 the Eastern Division and the General Services Complex, and in 2014 the Southern, Southeast and Mobile divisions had their shelters installed, Weeks said. When the April 2011 tornadoes struck Alabama, some cities had ordinances for tornado shelters but most did not, Weeks said. In 2012, the Alabama Legislature passed a law that gave sole overview of the construction, installation and permitting of shelters to the Alabama Manufactured Housing Commission. Today all shelters are inspected, certified and registered with the state. 5 Shelter from the Storms Weeks inspected storm shelters at the West Jefferson Business Office that can hold more than 120 people. COMPANY INSTALLS INTERIOR, EXTERIOR SAFE PL ACES STATEWIDE Photos by Christopher Jones The larger Hueytown shelter has a 96-person capacity.

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