Brighton to build new storm shelter with funding from Jefferson County’s general fund

BRIGHTON, Ala. ( WIAT ) — There’s an effort underway to build more storm shelters in Jefferson County using money from the county’s general fund.

This week’s deadly tornado in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, serves as an important reminder of why having access to storm shelters is so important in Alabama. Brighton is getting ready to break ground on a new storm shelter that will hold up to 120 residents. The cost, according to Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson, is around $375,000.

It will be the community’s first storm shelter. Tyson said “It’s about saving lives.”

Tyson said money from the county’s general fund will help pay for the new shelter along with several others.

“This is an old community,” Tyson said. “This is an old city. A lot of seniors still stay here, and I am definitely trying to protect the citizens here.”

Communities without storm shelters built by federal grant funding are soon getting shelters paid for out of the Jefferson County’s general fund. The commissioners allocate about $1 million each year from the general fund to build storm shelters in Jefferson County.

Construction on a new shelter in Tarrant is about to wrap up, and there are plans to build a shelter in Birmingport and Irondale. For a list of Jefferson County storm shelters, click here .

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