Government Help Hard to Come By for Those Wanting Tornado Shelters

• Logan Layden
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  Logan Layden is a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma. He is a native of McAlester, Oklahoma and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2009. Logan spent three years as a state capitol reporter and local host of All Things Considered for NPR member station KGOU in Norman and six years as a reporter with StateImpact from 2011 to 2017. Most recently, he was news director for McAlester Radio before returning to public radio in 2020.

Logan Layden / StateImpact Oklahoma

Wiley Robison shows off the new tornado shelter outside his home near Jay, Okla.

When Wiley Robison saw the devastation in Moore on May 20th, he decided he needed a storm shelter right then. For him, it was easy. He lives in rural Delaware County, on Cherokee land. No building permit was required for his shelter, and the tribe has a program to help its citizens with the costs.

But Robison’s experience is not the norm. Most cities and towns require permits. How difficult they are to get depends on where you live.