Tornado!!! Where do you take shelter?

[3dots]

I have a large area underneath my stairwell that I have coverted into a storm room. I built a heavy door from MDF and 2x4s that latches from the inside. You can almost stand straight up in it but not quite, it's big enough for about 6 adults. I have the usual emergency stuff inside but also have a 5# hand sledge, pry bar and jack...gotta be able to get out too.

It seems that my wife has been cramming it full of junk that would be perfectly safe in a tornado whilst the family would be strung up in the trees . As of last night, it has been reclaimed and the junk will be in a yard sale very soon . Hope you all in tornado alley have a safe place too, although sometimes, nothing above ground will suffice.

[NYlakesider]

Tornados and the occasional hurricane are rare here but we do get some and they do a lot of damage. My solution was to modify a corner of the basement a bit to make a space that could hold 4 people and our boxed cats. Yes If I/we got time the cats are going to the shelter, after all they are family.

The shelter is a concrete wall corner area between the stairs and my 72x41x27 safe and some rather solid built storage shelves. The stairs are built very solid and I have a couple of 4x4 standing vertical to reinforce a couple of the floor joists. Even if the whole house came down the mass of the safe and heavy duty house construction should keep us OK and not crushed and enough room to hopefully dig ourselves out.

As we live out a ways in the boonies (no cell service here) no way to tell when authorities or possibly surviving neighbors will check out our house.

[3dots]

Sounds like you've got a good spot too, NY. Hope you never have to use it.

[laskt9]

We just go into the basement. There are two small windows in the main room so if its an actual threat we move to the area under the stairs

[Lost Lake]

Basement here too...

Mine is 1600sf with a rec room, theater room, full bath and a complete bar.

Heck, I go down there all the time no matter what the weather is!!!


.

[old bear]

" Where do you take shelter?"

In my walk in basement, which is protected on two sides by a natural embankment, a block wall on one side, and open on the rear. The basement is also where we story our emergency supplies. We should be set down there; I do hope we never have to put it to the test.

[LouisianaJoe]

I find a comfortable place to sit down and kiss my butt goodbye!

Actually, My house has 2X6 external studs, 2X12 ceiling joists and an excessive amount of hurricane strapping, My external walls and roof rafters are foam filled for insullation which adds a little structure the the frameing. An internal walk thru closet would be the location to cower in fear for my wife and dogs. I would tend to find another room so I don't have to listen to the static.

In all fairness, my wife lived in OK as a child and has been in a storm shelter as a tornado passed near. She is very afraid of any storm.

[CW Spook]

My "gun room" in the basement is about 10x12, windowless, and on the southwest side of the house. It's where we would head for shelter if required.

[dougb1946]

My house was built in the 60s with a "bomb shelter". It is actually a storm shelter, as we live near a recognized tornado rookery. It functions as a food storage unit also, and has gallons of water, a Coleman lantern and stove. Concrete walls and ceiling. As two tornados have jumped over our house in 15 years, we love the little room.

[Foodfuzz]

Lived through an F-4 tornado in 1982. It killed ten people in my town. I went to my basement and told my neighbors to join me if they wanted. They did. I do not want to experience that again.

[A10]

Seattle. We have the occasional tornado here but never anything very powerful.

[model70hunter]

My son has an earth contact home, he felt pretty safe. He lives in the tornado belt. A couple of years ago an F-3 hit an earth contact home down the road from his house. The couple was killed. He went to look at the house. The only thing on the floor was the remains of the toilet base. All else was gone.

He now thinks all basements and earth contact homes should have one room surrounded in concrete in it. When we build our new house, yep it's going to be in the middle of tornado alley, it will have one large gun safe room concrete walls and ceiling. I have one friend who has this set up.

[yaktamer]

Here. No blizzards, no hurricanes, no tornadoes, no earthquakes. Just dust storms and the occasional microburst. Oh yeah, and about four months per year of searing, eyeball frying, skin evaporating heat.

[dmar]

In my basement. I've got a refrigerator with food, water, and beer, and my gun safes are down there. If I hear a big one coming, I'm hugging my safe, because if it goes, I'm going with it!

[MarineSgtjimh]

Arizona for me too. We did almost have a hurricane once about 19 years or so ago. It died out before it got to Yuma.

[Duster340]

Basement here in IL. Keep "just in case" supplies stored there.

[DeadAye]

I go out and do Sky Warn with the local PD, SO, and National Weather Service - so I'm in my truck.
My wife goes into an interior closet under the stairs or in the bathroom.
No basements here - Water table is too high.

[AMS417]

In case of an EF-4 / EF-5 Tornado, underground is the only safe place. I don't have a basement, or a storm shelter. A ditch would be safer than my house. Good thing there is a large ditch just 20 feet from my door. Only problem with that is the high risk of drowning, due to rain from the storms. I need to rethink my strategy. Or buy a snorkel.

[Straightshooter2]

Here in Georgia, there is a section of the basement that goes out under the concrete slab for the front porch so that's where we would go. In Jacksonville, it's the center hallway since the house is on a slab foundation. Where I live in Jacksonville, the first water level is 19 1/2 feet so basements are called indoor swimming pools.

CW

[yaktamer]

Originally Posted by model70hunter

My son has an earth contact home, he felt pretty safe. He lives in the tornado belt. A couple of years ago an F-3 hit an earth contact home down the road from his house. The couple was killed. He went to look at the house. The only thing on the floor was the remains of the toilet base. All else was gone.

He now thinks all basements and earth contact homes should have one room surrounded in concrete in it. When we build our new house, yep it's going to be in the middle of tornado alley, it will have one large gun safe room concrete walls and ceiling. I have one friend who has this set up.

"Earth contact home," as opposed to what, a house that floats in outer space????

[LouisianaJoe]

A friend built a house using ICF (insulating concrete forms). The forms act as insulation and as a form to pour concrete in after putting rebar in the form. The concrete part can be 4 or more inches thick and if designed to withstand winds in excess of 250 MPH. Here is a site that I found that explains ICF with videos and examples.

Tornado Proof Home: Is it possible to build a tornado proof home?

[J. R. WEEMS]

We don't see many here, but I had a room put under the garage with access to the basement. It is the size of a two car garage,surounded by concrete all around, it is also my 'shop' Hope it never has to be used for any storms.

[Mike7.62]

We have a "drive out" basement that is below grade on three sides, with a concrete block wall and insulated garage doors on the low side. That weak point is on the east side of the house, and 180* from the usual direction from which the tornadoes and straight line winds come. We've had two tornadoes this year, both F0's, which blew down some trees in the "way" back yard-I live on three acres-but did no damage to the house. The roof line of the house itself is below the military crest of the ridge, so much of the wind is directed overhead, saving the shingles. We just head down into the basement and sit in the car. I figure that if the house does go, then the car will shield us from some of the falling debris. I pray that I never have to "press to test" that theory.

Where I live in TN, we have had quite a few bad tornadoes over the years, especially in 2007, but nothing like that one that hit Joplin or Moore. I pray that we never do.

[Farmer17]

I am a construction contractor in Oklahoma City and I hear a lot of people say they go to a basement during tornados. I personally would rather be out in a field hugging a tree than in basement when a tornado arrives. Most basements have 2x12s, OSB I-joists, or glue-lams that span from one side of the basement to the other with small columns in the middle. They have a bearing surface on top of the footing that is usually the thickness of a 2x4 and everything works well as long as gravity and 16 penny nails hold it in place. But if a big tornado causes that house framing to move or twist just a few inches the house can come crashing down into the basement. If the wind is just strong enough to blow the windows out and the roof off the basement is a good place to be, but you won't find me in one when the bad storms are brewing.