About Lake Martin Storm Shelters
About Us
Some of you may have noticed a new guy on the scene. Meet Rance Perry the new owner of Lake Martin Storm Shelters. He brings some great experience and enthusiasm into the company and we're so pleased he will be carrying the legacy forward! Here's his bio:
I grew up and have lived in Alabama my entire life, so the threat of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes is something I’ve been familiar with for as long as I can remember. Like many families across our state, storm season has always been a reminder of how important it is to have a safe place when dangerous weather strikes.
That’s why I’m proud to continue the work that Merry and Steve started with Lake Martin Storm Shelters. Their mission of providing high-quality storm shelters to protect families is something I truly believe in, and I’m honored to carry that work forward.
I’m married and the father of three children, so protecting my own family is something that means everything to me. Being able to help bring that same peace of mind to other families is one of the most rewarding parts of what we do.
Before purchasing Lake Martin Storm Shelters, I spent 25 years working in a family-owned small business. That experience taught me the value of hard work, honesty, and building real relationships with the people you serve. I’ve always believed that family-owned businesses create stronger, more personal connections with their customers than larger companies.
My wife worked as a registered nurse at UAB for 20 years before stepping away from her career to focus on raising our three children full-time. Family and community have always been at the center of our lives.
Our family is excited about the future of Lake Martin Storm Shelters, and we look forward to continuing to provide comfort, protection, and peace of mind to families across our community when severe weather threatens.
In 2009, Merry and her youngest daughter experienced a near miss from a tornado and their only option was to take cover in a bathtub. She told her daughter that would be the last time they would go through a severe weather event without a shelter. So, the search began and led to an extensive search for adequate protection for her family. Prior to entering the storm shelter business, Merry was a licensed Alabama contractor involved in building custom horse barns through Barnmaster Barns, Inc. Her responsibilities included sales, site location, design, concrete installation and management of crews.
Barn contracting provided invaluable experience in modular construction and helped prepare her for the storm shelter industry.
Merry’s husband Steve spent eight years in the Navy flying as a Naval Flight Officer, the next 20 years in equipment sales for Caterpillar and was busy restoring classic wooden boats and canoes when he and Merry met. Now they operate Lake Martin Storm Shelters together as a family-owned business with a core group of dedicated employees all committed to quality and family safety.
Lake Martin Storm Shelters was founded in 2010. Since installing that first underground fiberglass shelter Merry and Steve have expanded the business to include above ground concrete shelters and steel safe rooms.
In 2018 Lake Martin Storm Shelters designed a prototype steel safe room that improved upon basic safe rooms. After further engineering and thorough testing by Intertek, the Everest line of steel safe rooms was born! Steve, who had been helping with the growing company, came on full-time and manages the production of Everest safe rooms.
What We Do
Lake Martin Storm Shelters manufactures, sells and installs FEMA compliant storm shelters all rated for EF5 tornados throughout Alabama. We provide our customers with the safest shelters on the market and install them professionally and responsibly. Lake Martin Storm Shelters specializes in providing proper evaluations based on our customer’s needs or circumstances.
Our ultimate goal is to provide quality products that offer superior protection for families from severe weather events such as tornadoes, hurricanes, high winds, micro-bursts and thunderstorms. We take our work seriously and that’s why we abide by all FEMA guidelines and engineered recommendations.
Lake Martin Storm Shelters represents three storm shelter manufacturers plus we manufacture our own line of steel safe rooms. We offer underground fiberglass storm shelters, Everest steel safe rooms and one-pour above-ground concrete shelters. Combined these companies have over 60 years of experience! All shelters have been tested at Texas Tech University or Intertek Labs and have the Alabama seal for support calculations. We have an answer for almost any situation which allows us to provide solutions rather than simply sell a single one-size-fits-all answer.
What Makes Us Different
We are A+ members of Better Business Bureau, American Tornado Shelter Association (certified as a manufacturer and installer), and NFIB National Federation of Independent Business. We participate in Continuing Education programs with FEMA and work closely with both state and county EMA’s.
