00;00;00;03 - 00;00;14;14
Thomas Ouellette
Steven Shaikh of Fort Wayne has a storm shelter built with the funding from the Residential Safe Rooms program. Shaih’s home doesn't have a basement, so when storm sirens went off, all his family could do was sit in the pantry, he says concerns over the next natural disaster were always on his mind.

00;00;14;16 - 00;00;32;16
Steven Shaikh
I've been, like, fearful of tornadoes all my life in the United States till the day I got this shelter. Now I sleep in peace of where storms are concerned. I'm not afraid I can grab my family, grab a cat, you know, and run into it, you know.

00;00;32;19 - 00;00;52;17
Thomas Ouellette
Indiana uses money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fund 75%, or up to $5,000 of the cost of the safe room. The Indiana Department of Homeland Security says the storm shelters can provide, quote, near absolute protection in extreme weather events. Shaikh says he never would have been able to afford the shelter had it not been for the program.

00;00;52;25 - 00;01;15;15
Thomas Ouellette
According to the National Center for Environmental Information, last year saw the highest amount of property damage from tornadoes in over a decade. Damages totaled more than $40 million. This year is following closely behind Hoosiers interested in the program can apply on the Ida website. Recipients of the funding are chosen by random through a lottery. In Muncie, Thomas Ouellette IPR news.