For those who live in Oklahoma, severe weather is a part of life.

Dibble Public Schools is one of a handful of school districts in Oklahoma that have decided to build monolithic dome structures to keep students and residents safer should a storm approach the area.

Superintendent Bill Bentley said Dibble voters passed a $3.49 million bond election in March 2007 that would allow the district to build a new middle school facility and gymnasium. Both are monolithic domes.

Bentley said district officials chose the dome structure for a couple of reasons.

"First, we wanted to have a facility which would serve as a tornado shelter for kids and community members," Bentley said. "The second reason was that the actual cost of heating and cooling is significantly less in a facility like this."

Bentley said workers inflated the middle school building's dome in April and the gymnasium's dome Tuesday evening.

David B. South, president of the Monolithic Dome Institute in Italy, Texas, said both structures will be completed in about eight or nine months.

South said the concrete domes are called monolithic because they are made in one piece.

"We take what looks like a truck tarp in the shape of the building, attach it to all concrete walls and inflate it with big fans," South said.

He said workers then spray the dome's interior with polyurethane. Rebar is tied in the roof, and it resembles a grid.

South said workers spray concrete on the underside of the foam embedding the rebar. The process takes a couple of weeks.

"When we get it all on, we can turn the fans off, open doors and windows, you have a thick shell dome and it's enormously strong," South said. "Earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes can't do too much damage. These buildings are tornado shelters and in some cases, walls are put outside of walls and doors to protect people."

Bentley said 700 children are enrolled in grades pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The gymnasium will seat about 600 people, and hold 3,000 individuals.

"It will be tremendous facility as a storm shelter," Bentley said.

Bentley said he's been superintendent for eight years and has passed three bond issues. The March 2007 bond issue passed by 76 percent, the largest percentage in his tenure, according to Bentley.