— As they stand next to the foundation of their former home at 2315 S. Missouri Ave., Don Conner and his wife, Shirley, look at the barren foundations around them.

“These were the homes of our neighbors and our friends. We lost some good neighbors,’’ Shirley Conner said.

Pointing to a nearby foundation, Don Conner said, “He got killed.’’

Pointing to another, he said, “He got killed.’’

And to another, he said, “She got killed.’’

In all, 10 people were killed by the tornado in their neighborhood.

But thanks to Shirley Conner’s persistence, the couple survived.

“After three years, I nagged him into cutting a hole in the floor of our bedroom so that it would be easier for us to get under the house,’’ she said. “We only had to use it once, but it saved our lives.’’

Before the “fraidy hole’’ with its hatch door was installed, the Conners would have to go outside and remove a cover over an opening in their foundation to get below their house.

“If we would have had to do that with this storm, we would not have made it in time,’’ she said. “Don barely made it in time the way it was.’’

Said Don: “I got ... down that hole as fast as I could and pulled the lid shut.’’

When they emerged, they could see the sky above. It was then that Shirley, 77, and Don, 78, knew that they would be starting over again. They had lost everything.

Today, they live in a new house at 1205 E. 24th St. that was constructed by Rausch-Coleman, an Arkansas-based home-building company. Their “fraidy hole” has been replaced by a safe room that doubles as a closet.



Building trend

Though the city of Joplin did not require safe rooms in the construction of new post-tornado homes, a majority of recent new-home buyers in Joplin are insisting on them. Safe rooms and basements have become important selling features, and it’s one of the trends under way as Joplin builds back from the storm.

According to city building permits, in the first year after the storm more than 5,000 of the homes and apartment units of the estimated 7,500 that were destroyed or damaged on May 22, 2011, are under permit or have been repaired.

“Ninety percent of our new homes in Joplin have safe rooms,’’ said Falinda Duncan, spokeswoman for Rausch-Coleman, Fayetteville, Ark., the 32nd largest home-building company in the United States. “They are putting them in their garages and closets. It’s a selling feature that we have discounted tremendously for the people of Joplin. We don’t want someone to buy one of our homes and not feel safe.’’

Duncan said safe rooms are an option in other markets where the company operates, including Kansas City, Fayetteville, and Tulsa, Okla.

“But the demand is nothing like it is in Joplin,’’ she said.

Danny Silsbe, owner of Joplin Builders, said one of the first things prospective home buyers want to know is whether a house has a basement.

Said Silsbe: “They are all wanting protection for their family. It’s one of the critical things people ask: Is there a basement?’’

Silsbe said a basement or a dedicated safe room is a selling feature.

“You’re shooting yourself in the foot if you don’t offer them and the people you are in competition with do,’’ he said. “We build the kind of home we would want our families to live in.’’



New rule

As Joplin rebuilds — more than $600 million in construction has been permitted in the year since the storm — not many rules have changed.

The Joplin City Council chose not to require the construction of safe rooms because it feared the additional cost might impede reconstruction. To do so, also could have given people a reason to rebuild outside of the city, city officials said. Silsbe said the council made the right choice.

“The city should not be telling people to build safe rooms. That is the home buyer’s prerogative,’’ he said.  

Houses constructed by his company, he said, far exceed the minimum standards required by city building codes. Metal strapping, anchor bolts, cross bracing and ring shank nails, which are difficult to pull out, are used in the construction of a Joplin Builders house.

After the tornado, the city did pass an ordinance requiring the use of rafter-truss ties, which are also known as hurricane ties. It also reduced the spacing of foundation anchor bolts from 6 feet to 4 feet. Another requirement requires the use of reinforcing steel in concrete blocks that are filled with concrete.

Jason Hodge, director of sales and marketing with DTS Custom Homes, said approximately 65 percent of the 42 houses the company has constructed in the Joplin area have either a safe room or a basement.

“People want that type of security, but they question the expense. A safe room, depending on its size, can add $25 to $35 a month to your mortgage payment,’’ he said. “When we tell them they can have that security for less than a dollar a day, they want it.’’

DTS houses also exceed the city’s building codes, he said.

“But that’s not what is important to our buyers. They are asking far fewer questions of that nature. We tell them this is what is required, but this is what we do in addition to that,’’ he said. “All they want to know is whether the house has a Twister Safe or safe room.’’

Hodge said buyers, having observed what 200 mph winds can do to well-constructed houses, understand that only so much can be done to improve the safety of a structure.

“They know a safe room could save their lives,’’ he said.



Renters

Home owners are not the only ones who will benefit from the upswing in safe room construction in newly-constructed Joplin dwellings. Renters are being afforded some security, too.

Steve Cope, the city’s building and code supervisor, said permits were issued last month for 70 affordable housing units that will be constructed across the city. All of them will have reinforced safe rooms.

Kevin Parker, a Joplin developer, is constructing the first Missouri Housing Development Commission post-tornado duplexes in Joplin at East 20th Street and Delaware Avenue.

“I decided to do that as an owner to protect the tenants who will be occupying the properties,’’ he said. “I made that a part of the MHDC application. We built that cost into the contract.’’

Twister Safe manufactured 20 custom-made shelters to fit underneath the staircase landings in the garages of each duplex unit.

Said Parker: “The question for us was: ‘Where do you put these things?’ That’s why we had them custom made to fit underneath the landings.’’

Parker said adding the safe rooms was a gamble in that “we ran the risk of being too high’’ on our funding application to the MHDC.

Cope said the city is not logging how many safe rooms are being added to Joplin’s residential housing stock, but he estimates that at least 50 percent of Joplin’s new dwellings have them.

Cope said there is only so much you can do to fortify a structure against a tornado. The code standard is for winds of 90 mph.

“You have to weigh how much you want to fortify a structure against the cost,’’ he said.

So far, the city has logged only a few complaints about the quality of home-building construction that has taken place in Joplin. There have been incidents where exterior bricks have fallen because of the insufficient use of brick ties.

“We inspect the properties, but its up to the contractor to build to code,’’ he said. “So far, nobody has jumped out as someone whose work we are displeased with.’’

The city inspects foundations and footings, framing, exterior sheathing and mechanical systems, including plumbing and electrical. If they find that something is not built to code, a correction notice is issued. The deficiencies must be corrected before a certificate of occupancy is granted. Most banks require a certificate of occupancy before closing on a loan.

“There is code versus workmanship,’’ Cope said. “Building to code meets the minimum standard of a safe home. Quality is another issue altogether.’’