CHRISTIAN COUNTY, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Since it was established, the Crofton Tornado Safe Room has sheltered hundreds of people from potentially dangerous incoming storms. Weather savvy volunteers Brian and Janet Diamond have created a severe weather hub in the facility, dedicating their time throughout the year to keep the community safe.
Creating the storm shelter began back in 2013, with the doors officially opening in 2016. Brian has over 40 years of experience as a firefighter and paramedic, and he and Janet have past experience with tornado relief and response. Throughout their careers, they have both maintained a steady intrigue in weather, which led to them seeking out classes and eventually co-founding the Christian County Weather Spotters Network alongside David Powell in Hopkinsville.
Due to their past accomplishments, they were asked by the City of Crofton to head the shelter and take the helm on storm tracking for the area. They worked with the city to retrofit it to their needs, filling the room with weather tracking software, radios, and other necessary equipment. Alongside local weather spotters, they receive and interpret weather data to best decide when to open the shelter.
“Honestly, when I retired from Hopkinsville Fire in 2016, I was like that’s it, I’m done…well it’s 2025 and I’m still going at it,” said Brian. “When God tells me I can’t do it anymore that’s when I’m going to stop, and that’s probably when I’m going to be six feet under.”
300 people come during recent storms
On April 2 when extreme storms swept across the country bound toward Christian County, 302 people arrived at the shelter to escape from severe weather. “That’s the most we’ve ever had, we’ve had between 125 and 150 before,” said Janet, with Brian adding, “This room was meant to actually hold 500 people standing shoulder to shoulder, I hope we never have to get there.”
While the full impact of the storms ended up missing Christian County, members of the surrounding community are thankful to have a safe spot to wait out the weather. During these storms, volunteers are able to track conditions directly from the shelter while staying in constant communication with local weather spotters and the National Weather Service in Paduch.
There are currently around 10 volunteers that are available to help during severe weather, and since Brian is also assistant chief of the Crofton Fire Department, he gets additional support from firefighters if needed. Their reach extends beyond Crofton and beyond Christian County as no other shelter exists in surrounding cities.
“We get people from Clarksville, Dawson Springs, Fort Campbell, and Madisonville…we never know who we are going to get,” Janet told Christian County Now.
Janet and Brian agree that they will keep on going with weather spotting and running the storm shelter until they are no longer able to. But in the meantime, they are continually training and passing along their knowledge. Their enjoyment comes from working together to keep the community safe and forward education.
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Procedures and what to expect
The facility itself is a large room where tables and chairs can be set up if capacity allows. There are bathrooms with showers, a full kitchen, and several outlets on the walls for charging devices. Their ‘mission control center’ in the facility is covered with screens allowing them to properly track radar.
The walls of the shelter are 18 inches thick with two layers of hollow concrete bricks that are filled with cement, and the roof is two feet of concrete. It was also built on a shaker plate in the event of an earthquake. The facility is equipped with its own ventilation system and backup generator. In the case of other sorts of emergencies, the shelter can also double as a medical shelter to house people who need aid.
Brian emphasized that access to the shelter is free, and anyone who enters is free to go at any time, unless there is a tornado on the ground within a block from the facility for internal safety reasons. Crated pets are placed in a nearby facility instead of the shelter, and people are welcome to bring comfort items along with blankets and snacks.
Depending on the state of the weather, the doors will be unlocked with or without a volunteer present. These updates will be announced on the Crofton Tornado Safe Room Facebook page, and the shelter is located at 13511 North Old Madisonville Road.
Christian County Emergency Management has previously confirmed that they are moving forward with plans to create a dozen new storm shelters in the next five years throughout the rest of the county. This would alleviate some of the stress from this location, while supplying safe access to people in other areas.
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