After the April 27, 2011, tornado outbreak tore a path of death and destruction through Limestone County and the state, leaving hundreds dead and thousands homeless, residents became more aware about family safety.

Before 2011, Limestone County had begun building storm shelters using Hurricane Katrina funds. After 2011, the county built more shelters using FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program money.

On April 28, 2014, an EF3 tornado ripped through the Coxey community and parts of Athens, killing two, destroying or damaging nearly 750 homes and downing 200 power poles. Limestone County and Athens were, once again, preoccupied with how to protect its citizens from storms.

While the county had added shelters over the years, it did not build any of them inside Athens’ city limits.

Officials at Athens City Schools decided to apply for a $487,390 Hazard Mitigation Grant from FEMA to build a 400-person, aboveground storm shelter at Cowart Elementary School, where the ball fields had been located. The estimated cost was $600,000.

Building storm shelters at schools as well as in the various communities within the county, including in the city of Athens, was part of Limestone County Emergency Management Agency’s 2010 hazard mitigation plan.

Determined to get a city storm shelter, Mayor Ronnie Marks asked City Council members to share in the cost of the Cowart shelter, which would be reserved for students and staff during school hours but open to the general public during after-school hours, said city Grant Coordinator/Communications Specialist Holly Hollman.

Last December, council members agreed to help fund the Cowart shelter. City schools and the city will pay whatever the grant does not cover, a total of $112,610, said City Clerk Annette Barnes. The schools will pay 65 percent or $73,196 and the city will pay 35 percent or $39,414, Hollman said. The city has already set aside $50,000 from the 2014 budget surplus to pay its portion of the match, Barnes said. That way if the project exceeds $600,000 the city has extra, she said.

Daphne Ellison, deputy director of the Limestone County Emergency Management Agency, said the engineering, design and GIS mapping for the Cowart safe room is ready and waiting for the funding stream.

More shelters up to voters

Whether Athens will build more shelters is up to city voters.

School officials have unveiled a five year, $75 million school-improvement plan that calls for building a new high school, building a new Athens Elementary School, moving the middle school to the former high school, improving all other schools and adding storm shelters or safe rooms to every city school. Like the shelter at Cowart, these additional shelters or safe rooms would be reserved for students and staff during school hours but available to the general public after school.

None of it will happen unless city voters approve a proposed 12-mill property tax increase. A 12-mill increase works out to $1.20 on every $100 of assessed property value. The average homeowner with a $100,000 home would pay $120 more per year more in property tax. If approved, the additional tax would be levied only until the $75 million debt was repaid.

City Council members have agreed to ask the state Legislature for permission to put the tax question on an upcoming election ballot in August.

What if voters reject?

The city has not budgeted money for any other shelters at this time, according to Marks and Barnes.

“The only design we have right now is the one behind Cowart,” Marks said. “Now, if the property tax increase is approved there will be one at every city school. That way we will have safe rooms for kids during the day and for the general public after school hours. That is one reason why it (the vote) is such a high priority. We want to ensure safety.”