Part of the problem, City officials said, was the large number of residents in the shelter restricted access for emergency personnel to the city’s command center, which is also located in the basement. No decision on the shelter’s closure will be made this storm season.

The idea was suggested after the May 24 tornado outbreak in Oklahoma County created an overcrowding problem at the shelter. With standing room only, about 300 people packed the shelter, which is located in City Hall’s basement. The basement can hold only 200 to 250 people.

“Closing it would require a lot of advanced warning,” the mayor said. “Do we shut it down, or do we say to residents, ‘That’s all we can hold’ and lock the doors?” City officials were criticized for not allowing some residents into the shelters even though they were filled to capacity. In fact, the storm shelter at the Sheraton Hotel’s Reed Center was well over capacity. The Reed Center shelter is designed to accommodate 1,800 people, but city officials said about 2,200 residents pushed their way into the facility.

Midwest City is among a handful of cities that still offer public storm shelters for its residents, Mike Bower, the city’s emergency management director, said.

But it wasn’t just people who were in the shelters.

“We did everything we could to get people in, but we ran into problems because people were bringing their pets and luggage with them,” he said. “Pets are not allowed. Only service animals are allowed in the public storm shelters.”

At the Reed Center, 46 animals were placed in animal-control truck cages and left outside as the storm passed.

“They’d have been safer at home,” Bower said.

PERSONAL CONDUCT

Residents who seek refuge in public storm shelters should accept personal responsibility for their conduct while there, Bower said.

“They left the place a mess,” he said, referring to the City Hall shelter.

Baby diapers, chicken bones, food wrappers and numerous water bottles were left scattered throughout the shelter after residents were allowed to leave.

“We just ask that people use common sense,” he said. “Don’t bring suitcases or your pets to the shelters. When this happens, it reduces the number of people who can get into the shelter. There are so many people without a (severe weather) plan and then they start looking for someplace to go. We need to do a better job of educating our citizens of what’s expected of them if they come to a shelter. They should also be aware that driving to a shelter at the last minute can be risky.”

In one instance, a woman identified as Brittany Rose Francks broke a locked glass door at City Hall when she went to the wrong entrance and could not gain access to the shelter. When told that she needed to go to the east entrance, Francks knocked out the glass with her fist and walked into City Hall with her baby and husband.

Francks was cited by police for malicious injury to public property.

Police later received several calls from people willing to pay the fine for Francks and the cost of the glass door, a police official said.

Fewer residents might not need public storm shelters if the city can obtain more federal funds to help citizens pay for private storm shelters. In April 2010, Midwest City received a federal grant worth $835,000 that was used to pay for 400 private storm shelters. Bower said 920 residents applied for the federal money and a drawing was held to determine the lucky citizens. So far, about 130 of the shelters have been installed.

Bower said Midwest City will apply for another round of grant money so more homeowners will have a chance to receive a storm shelter.

tfarley@eastword.net