Protecting People: South Wind Shelters and Safe Rooms

Photos by: Emma Highfill | Rose Wheat Photography & Grace Place

Matt Cobb was celebrating his daughter’s 5th birthday with family in 2011 when a funnel cloud passed over the house. Thankfully, Topeka was spared that day, but families in Joplin, Missouri, were not so fortunate. Cobb looks back on that moment as a wake-up call.

“I felt vulnerable,” Cobb said. “I realized we didn’t have a safe place to go. The experience motivated me to accept responsibility of my family’s safety and do something to protect them.”

A TRULY SAFE PLACE

In the Midwest, many of us seek shelter in our basements during severe storms. While a basement can protect us from swirling debris and shattering glass, it does nothing to protect us from the danger of a building collapse. Cobb also points out that for the elderly or disabled, a basement might not be accessible. Cobb searched for a shelter to purchase but found nothing on the market that met his expectations or standards. So, he set out to build a truly safe place, a far leap beyond what a cellar or basement offers.

Safe rooms are exactly as the name describes—a room to keep people safe from danger, including home invasions and storms.

Cobb worked with engineers and put in four years of design and testing to create a product that goes well beyond the minimum FEMA and ICC 500 guidelines.

“South Wind Shelters and Safe Rooms are over- engineered and over-built,” Cobb said. “ The bolts are the same used in skyscraper I-beams. My anchors were designed to meet the seismic and tensile strength requirements in hydroelectric dams, power plants and ski lifts.”

Cobb says the extra measures are not just bells and whistles. He captured all of his concerns with the products available on the market and addressed them in his design.

“Every single detail and component of these shelters has a reason,” Cobb said. “The testing results speak for themselves. I’m proud of the product we’ve made. I invite anyone to watch our testing videos and know that your family would be safe in that shelter.”

TWICE THE STEEL

Cobb’s shelters cost more than competing models, but he stresses that for a slightly higher price, his product uses twice as much steel as the competition.

“Not all shelters are created equal,” Cobb said. “Things can always be built cheaper, but safety is not the place to cut corners. Our shelter was designed with families in mind, and that’s the high bar, not the FEMA requirements.”

Cobb says another part of the cost- value ratio with a storm shelter is the peace of mind.

“I created a shelter that I can trust to protect
my own family with no hesitation,” Cobb said.

“There’s no way to put a value on the sense of security that I feel knowing that my family has a safe place.”

Cobb created his business because he wanted to protect people and give them that same peace of mind.

GIVING BACK

“As a Marine, and a father, protection is a big part of who I am. After I built a shelter that I knew could protect my family, I wanted everyone else to have that opportunity.”

Wanting to start South Wind Shelters and Safe Rooms off on a note of giving, Cobb’s first official business act was to donate a storm shelter to St. Jude. The shelter will be offered as a prize to people buying tickets for a dream home giveaway.

“Purchasing tickets for the dream home giveaway will let someone be entered to win the shelter as a prize, so it will be an enticement for people to buy more tickets,” Cobb said. “I wanted my first official act to be one of giving back.”

CONSIDER IT A NECESSITY

Cobb believes that no dream home would be complete without a safe place. He sees a future where life safety is taken so seriously that a storm shelter is thought of like an appliance or piece of furniture, a standard investment.

“For about the price of a good bathroom remodel, a family can purchase a shelter that could save their lives,” Cobb said. “These shelters are for anyone who takes safety seriously, and your family’s lives are worth a product that really works.”