Fear of hurricanes, biological terror attacks and burglars has business booming for South Florida companies that build "panic rooms" to order.
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While the greatest fear is of hurricanes, Angela Nystrom, the 47-year-old owner of the Survivor Depot, says the company's specialized safe rooms are also designed to isolate and protect people from a biological attack or nuclear disaster.
She sells the Noah's Ark Rainbow 36A, which inflates in minutes and promises to remain toxic-free for days, she said. It costs $3,100.
"The government tells us to keep duct tape and plastic at home to seal off a room, but if, God forbid, something does happen, that would be useless," Nystrom told the Miami Herald.
At the high end of the spectrum, the Coastal Construction Group will build safe rooms, for anywhere from $25,000 to $500,000. A bare-bones version consists of an empty room built of concrete-and-steel walls with bulletproof and fire-resistant panels. Closed-circuit televisions, Internet connections, generators and toilets add to the cost.
Interest in the rooms has been on the rise since the 2002 movie, "Panic Room," starring Josie Foster, the newspaper said.