The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Safe Room is owned by the Niangua School District and its first function is to provide protection for the students and staff during tornado and extreme high wind events during school hours. The FEMA Shelter is also available to residents in the community, with students and staff taking priority during school hours.

When severe weather occurs outside of school hours, the mayor of Niangua and the Niangua Fire Chief have the ability to open the facility for community use.

The FEMA Shelter is the dome building located at 301 Rumsey Street. The building has a maximum capacity of 350 people.

Your official notification that the safe room is open will be through National Weather Service (NWS) alerts. When a tornado watch is issued for Webster County, district personnel will ready the area for occupancy should a warning be issued.  Niangua’s safe room opens when a tornado warning is issued. At that point, the public can begin to enter the safe room. If a tornado warning is issued without a tornado watch, the safe room will be opened as soon as possible.  We recommend using a weather radio to get your weather alerts since they do not use cellular, like a phone, which could cause a drop in coverage in an emergency.  Again, we will be using the NWS alerts as our official notification system. 

Those residents located within the Tornado Protection Zone (TPZ) are recommended to utilize the FEMA Shelter when practical. The TPZ is an area 0.5 miles around the FEMA Shelter as designated by FEMA for those who can quickly make it to the shelter in the event of a tornado warning. This does not limit who can come to the FEMA Shelter; it just notes who can quickly make it in the event of severe weather.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. David Baker, superintendent at dbaker@nianguaschools.com, or Mr. Clint Gazette, JH/HS Principal and district safety coordinator at cgazette@nianguaschools.com.