Arkansas Town Gets $1 Million Grant for Safe Room
A town hard hit by a deadly tornado outbreak in late April is getting more than $1 million to build a safe room at the high school.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Tuesday that its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program will pay $1,000,440 of a $1.3 million project to construct a safe room at Vilonia High School.
FEMA officials say the stand-alone safe room will measure more than 6,500 square feet and should accommodate nearly 1,150 people during a severe storm or tornado.
Vilonia school superintendent Frank Mitchell doesn’t know when the work will begin on the structure, but says it will be built as quickly as possible.
Five people were killed and numerous buildings were destroyed when a tornado ripped through Vilonia on April 25.
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