Orange Beach, Ala. – (GSN) – When a hurricane approaches land the residents are typically given advance notice and evacuate. However, many local city first responders stay in the area for emergency operations. During Ivan, first responders didn’t know where to go. The staff at Gulf Shores used the local jail cells for rest and shelter. During Sally, exactly 16 years later on Sept. 16, the need was exposed again in Orange Beach.

Thanks to a FEMA grant finally coming through nearly six years post-Sally, Orange Beach first responders will soon have a safe place to go during catastrophic events for future hurricane seasons, with an eye on 2027.

“During Hurricane Ivan, I was not working for the city, yet the stories are told that police and fire they didn’t have a central location for all the first responders to be together,” Orange Beach Emergency Management Director Nicole Woerner said. “Everyone scattered. They went to people’s houses. I heard some people say they stayed in the jail here. We were all disjointed, and for recovery, that’s difficult.”

Safe responders must seek shelter when sustained winds hit 45 mph and stay put until the winds drop below that threshold.

“This is going to be a step in the right direction, everyone can be together and as soon as the winds drop below sustained 45 mph we can get back and see what damage we have,” Woerner said. “I’m excited about this. We need it. Our first responders need a place to go when there is an evacuation.”

Responders organizing from different places when the winds ease enough to start recovery efforts makes the process more difficult, Woerner said. Almost as difficult as getting final approval from FEMA for the 90/10 split on a grant for the city to have its own safe room. Federal dollars will pay for $5.8 million of the cost with the city putting up $649. I’m excited about this.

“It’s a process going through the federal government because you have to make sure all the executive orders and the rules are followed to make sure everyone gets a fair chance at the work,” “I’ve been working on this obligation of a safe room since Sally. For FEMA to finally say ‘yes, this is a great project.’ I’m excited about this.”

The new safe room will be built down Russian Road at the city’s shooting range. Most of the city’s portion of the match will be used to bring infrastructure to the site.

“There’s no running water or sewer down Russian Road to the gun range,” Woerner said. “The city of Orange Beach partnered with the Orange Beach Water Authority where they’re hiring the contractor and do it at the same time to save money. We’re paying our portion for the sewer line.”

By code, sewer and water lines must be a minimum amount of space apart, and Woerner says both lines will be going in at the same time. When the in-ground work is finished, paving the road to the site will be a priority.

“They have to be so far apart underground but it makes sense if you’re going to dig a big hole let’s just put all the utilities down here and do it at once,” Woerner said. “They’re clearing rights-of-way, and the county has promised to pave it. They’re already working on getting those lines down there.”

The finished product will be a 10,000-square-foot building with a hazardous materials shower near the entrance, a kitchen, and a boardroom-style setting for in-person and online meetings, briefings, and updates. A large open hall will be for first responders to gather and sleep.

A communications hub will also be in place to take over if the city’s main network is disabled by a storm.

“This is for if our communications go down at the PD where 911 is and we have our dispatchers,” Woerner said. “We’re going to have all of the operations there for communications if the PD gets damaged. They can move here. There’s a small kitchen, restrooms with showers for men and women. We have storage that is so needed because you’ve got to have tarps and MREs and water. There is a room if we need to have a high-level EMC meeting during storms. When we do daily briefings, we’ll do them in this room.”

There is enough space in the safe room to house one shift of police and fire first responders and other essential city personnel.

Foley broke ground on its safe room in February thanks to a FEMA award and Fairhope has received its FEMA grant and is just a bit farther along with its safe room project than Orange Beach. Other cities in Baldwin County with safe rooms include Elberta and Spanish Fort.