Dive Brief:

• Elected city officials in Tulsa, Okla., are talking about requiring storm shelters in any new elementary school, saying that what happened in Moore in May 2013 could happen in their part of Tornado Alley as well.
• In Oklahoma City, a similar building code change is being considered for schools and daycare centers, which is what got Tulsa thinking about it.
• Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, meanwhile, got approval in a legislative committee Wednesday for a plan to let school districts use one-time authority to exceed their bonding limits to construct shelters and safe rooms as long as 60% of local voters approve it.

Dive Insight:

There is some disagreement about whether school storm shelters should be driven by schools themselves or municipal building codes, but not about whether they are a good idea. The death of the seven students in a Moore school was a sobering message for all officials in the tornado-prone state that more could and should be done.