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Mobile County Emergency Management Agency

AL Safer Places

An AL Safer Place exists to reduce risk by offering a safer alternative to remaining outdoors or in housing that is unsafe during severe weather. Organizations that become AL Safer Places commit to providing a basic, safer physical environment where people can shelter when no better options are available. For individuals facing extreme circumstances, an AL Safer Place can mean protection from weather-related hazards and other immediate dangers. By expanding access to these locations, communities create realistic, life-preserving options when traditional housing or shelter is unavailable.

AL Safer Places in Mobile County

Central Presbyterian

1260 Dauphin Street

Dauphin Way United Methodist Church

1507 Dauphin Street, Mobile, AL 36604

Dearborn YMCA

321 N. Warren Street, Mobile, AL 36603

 

Independent Living Center

6750 Howells Ferry Road, Mobile AL 36618

MOWA Choctaw Housing Authority

1080 Red Fox Rd. W, Mt. Vernon, AL 36560

Williams Chapel Missionary Baptist Church

17595 U.S. Highway 43, Mt. Vernon, AL

 

Become an AL Safer Place

Many faith-based and business locations have buildings that can withstand high winds and are large enough to shelter people. If you are willing and have the staff to do it, then you can adopt a Safer Place.

Mobile County Emergency Management and the Red Cross can help with assessing your building, planning for an emergency Safer Place, and training your staff. You could have a Safer Place for your own members and employees, or you may open it to the public. Some organizations may be able to help a specific neighborhood or mobile home park. The program can be tailored to your own needs and abilities.

For more information email: MobileEMA@mobilecountyema.gov

What is needed to apply?

Overview

Who can apply to be a Safer Place?

  • Businesses
  • Houses of Worship
  • Community Groups
  • Muncipal Buildings
  • Any Facility Open to the General Public

General Facility Guidelines:

  • The facility should provide improved protection from the elements.
  • The facility should satisfy applicable building codes
  • The condition of the facility should be suitable for occupation and not pose a threat to the health and safety of occupants including:
    • There must be a second means of exiting the facility in the event of fire or other emergency.
    • There must be smoke detectors that comply with applicable building codes.
    • There should be sufficient sanitary facilities that are in proper operating condition. 
  • Ideally, the facility should be ADA compliant.

Title 31 Chapter 9 Article 7 Section 31-9-140

Section 31-9-140 Designation and Operation of Safer Place Facilities.

(a) Before December 31, 2021, the state Emergency Management Agency, in cooperation with the Alabama Association of Emergency Managers and the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, shall develop uniform guidelines for use in identifying and volunteering safer place facilities throughout the state. At a minimum, the guidelines shall do all of the following:

(1) Provide local emergency management agencies with methods for notifying the community about safer places.

(2) Provide an application process, through the local emergency management agency, for those individuals and entities that own or control a structure for offering all or part of the structure for designation as a safer place facility. At a minimum, the application shall require the applicant to make a good faith determination that the structure meets all criteria identified by the guidelines and that the applicant will not discriminate when making the structure available to the public. The application may be provided through the website of the local emergency management agency.

(3) Describe the circumstances and conditions of appropriate use and length of availability of a safer place facility.

(4) Require that the availability of a safer place will be nondiscriminatory on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, or religion.

(5) Provide that a designated safer place facility is not required to be available to the public at all times or to provide staff, food, water, medicine, electricity, air conditioning, first aid, telecommunication services, or any other life or health preserving goods or services before, during, or after a severe weather event.

(6) Provide a procedure for the withdrawal of a safer place designation.

(7) Require safer place facilities to satisfy applicable building codes at the time of construction, provide participants with improved protection from the elements, and not pose a direct threat to the health and safety of those participating including, but not limited to, the following:

a. A second means of exiting the facility in the event of fire or other emergency.

b. Smoke detectors which comply with applicable building codes.

c. Sufficient sanitary facilities that are in proper operating condition, are private, and are adequate for personal cleanliness and the disposal of human waste.

(8) Establish other procedures, criteria, and guidelines as necessary to further the purposes of this section.

(b) No state or local governmental entity shall provide, or offer to provide, compensation or financial support of any kind to any individual or entity relating to the designation or operation of a safer place facility.

(c) Due to the patent and obvious dangers associated with severe weather events, an individual who uses a safer place facility does not acquire the status of an invitee or licensee, and the individual who uses a designated safer place facility does so at his or her own risk, with full knowledge and appreciation of the associated risks.

(d) A local emergency management agency, pursuant to its emergency management functions, may perform any task provided in the guidelines. Any individual who volunteers a structure as a safer place facility pursuant to this section is a volunteer for purposes of the Volunteer Service Act, Section 6-5-336, during the time the structure is designated as a safer place. Any entity making a facility available as a safer place shall be afforded the same protections granted to an emergency management worker, individual, partnership, association, or corporation by Section 31-9-16.

(Act 2021-165, §1.)

FACILITY ACTIVATION

Does our facility have to remain open at all times (24 hours a day, 365 days out of the year)? No

If we sign the MOU will the government force us to open our facility as a Safer Place for a given event? No, Alabama law and Safer Places Guidance clearly states that a facility with the AL Safer Place designation is “not required to be available to the public at all times.”

If our facility is designated as an AL Safer Place, will we have to open the facility as a long-term mass care site? No, the intent of the program is provide a safer location (not a FEMA-approved safe room) for individuals to seek shelter during a severe weather event (such as a tornado or extreme cold). 

LIABILITY

Will opening my facility as a designated AL Safer Place increase my liability? Under the Volunteer Service Act (Alabama Code 6-5-336) owners of the Safer Place structure are generally shielded from liability.

Will volunteers from our organization working at our facility during a Safer Place activation be individually liable?

A volunteer, a person performing services for a nonprofit organization, a nonprofit corporation, a hospital, or a governmental entity without compensation, other than reimbursement for actual expenses incurred, shall be immune from civil liability in any action on the basis of any act or omission of the volunteer resulting in damage or injury if:

(1) The volunteer was acting in good faith and within the scope of such volunteer’s official functions and duties for a nonprofit organization, a nonprofit corporation, hospital, or a governmental entity; and

(2) The damage or injury was not caused by willful or wanton misconduct by such volunteer. (Alabama Code 6-5-336)

Financial Compensation

Will my organization be financially compensated for becoming a designated “Safer Place”? No, the Alabama Safer Place program is intended to be a voluntary service to one’s community. Alabama law prohibits state or local government entities from providing or offering to provide compensation or financial support of any kind to any individual or entity relating to the designation or operation of a safer place facility.

What is needed to apply?

  • Three identified points of contact for your facility.
  • Facility floorplan drawing/sketch of the area you intend to use as a Safer Place (it does not have to be a blueprint).
  • Drawing or photo of the exterior of the building indicating parking and preferred building entrances(s) and exit(s) to be used. 
  • A copy of your facilities severe weather plan (if there is one.)
  • Complete the application.
  • After review and approval, sign an MOU with Mobile County Emergency Management Agency

If you have questions or would like additional information, contact Mobile County EMA at MobileEMA@mobilecountyema.gov or call 251-460-8000.