The new safe rooms are being constructed with capacity for 300 people, based on each person getting a 3-by-3-foot space, according to county officials.

A light gray, plain building looms near the Clements Volunteer Fire Department station as construction equipment and materials dot the small site.

The 300-capacity, rectangular structure at Cowford Road and Grover Drive is the future home of the Cowford community safe room, one of four underway by the Limestone County Emergency Management Agency.

Another built-from-scratch safe room is going up at 19667 Sandlin Road in Elkmont, while two pre-constructed units are nearing the final stages at the Ardmore on Park Avenue and Ark of Promise on Browns Ferry Road in Athens.

Eddie Gilbert, safety officer for Limestone EMA, said the building modules are set for both Ardmore and Ark of Promise. He said in case of an emergency, the in-progress rooms could be used but they still require finishing touches such as handicap accessibility, doors and utility connections.

Eight new shelters are on tap, joining the eight designated safe rooms or shelters already available within the county. The Limestone EMA is undertaking this expansive project through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Tony Patrick, 55, has worked at Steelcase Inc. in Athens for 35 years, commuting to the metal furniture plant from his Cowford Road home, which is directly across from the safe room.

Patrick said he usually takes his family to his brother’s house, since he has his own shelter. But three years ago when the Super Outbreak ripped through the Southeast, he said they were at home when they saw a tornado less than 400 yards away.

“We saw the tornado up the street and we saw it got the shed,” said Patrick, who added the Tanner and East Limestone communities are hit by more tornadoes than the Clements area.

According to the Associated Press, 122 tornadoes on April 27, 2011, cycled through Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia, killing 316 people in the third-deadliest outbreak in the U.S.

New safe rooms

The six pre-constructed safe rooms are being supervised by architect Lee Helms Associates in Clanton, while Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood in Huntsville is overseeing the Elkmont and Cowford projects.

Below is a list of safe rooms being constructed or in the works.

• Elkmont,19667 Sandlin Rd, Elkmont

• Cowford, 14024 Grover Drive, Athens

• Pisgah, 27712 McKee Road, Toney

• Pine Ridge,10108 Settle Road, Tanner

• Ark of Promise,15199 Browns Ferry Road, Athens

• Wooley Springs, 28025 Bethel Road. Elkmont

• Ardmore Park Avenue, 29910 Park Ave., Ardmore

• Owens Vol. Fire Dept. Station No. 2, 17210 Glaze Road, Athens

Available shelter

Below is a list of designated shelters currently available for public use from the Limestone EMA:

• Clements safe room, 9158 U.S. 72 West, Athens

• Goodsprings safe room, 33634 Alabama 99, Anderson

• Pleasant Grove safe room, 9080 Upper Snake Road, Athens

• West Limestone High School storm shelter, 10945 School House Road, Lester (open to the public during nonschool hours)

• Lester community shelter, 30305 Lester Road, Lester;

• Owens Elementary School storm shelter, 21465 Alabama 99, Athens (open to the public during nonschool hours);

• Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 1418 Old Railroad Bed Road, Madison;

• Ardmore City Hall safe room, 25844 Main Street, Ardmore, Tenn.

Editor’s note: The county plans to build a safe room in the East Limestone Senior Center. The rebuilt Bethel Church of Christ, now located at Capshaw and Bledsoe roads in eastern Limestone County, has a 500-capacity safe room.