Tornado/Storm Shelter - Underground

[gsganzer]

I always wondered, what happens if debris covers door. How do you get out?

On some models, the door is removable from the frame and you can remove it from the inside. I think the real key is to have it registered with your town and have a plan with neighbors and family to check for people being trapped in it, after an event. I'm pretty sure emergency responders know to look for these things.

 

[EddieWalker]

When we've had tornado's go through my area of Texas, there is a swarm of First Responders and Volunteers that go to every building afterwards. No need to call, they are there right away!!!!! Helicopters identifying the damage with tractors, heavy equipment and chainsaws everywhere.

 

[EddieWalker]

In Kentucky, underground storm shelters typically start around $5,000 installed, with prices increasing based on the number of occupants the shelter is designed to hold. It's unlikely you could build one yourself for that cost, so I highly recommend considering a pre-fabricated, professionally engineered option offered by many companies today. Some even offer models that can be installed beneath your garage floor, allowing you to access the shelter without having to go outside during severe weather.


Regarding the door, many residents in the area notify local authorities after installation so they can be added to a registry. This ensures that, in the event of a tornado, rescue teams know to check for you and can assist if the door becomes obstructed. In my opinion, the door isn't a major concern, as these companies have already thoroughly planned for such scenarios.

Welcome to TBN.

An installed shelter for $5,000 sounds very affordable. Just a good quality above ground door is going to start at $3,000.

Do these shelters meet FEMA regulations?

I'm in Texas, and I'm sure things are different in Kentucky, but I would be curious to a link to what type of shelter you can get installed for $5,000 if you would please provide one.

 

[Alan W.]

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[Drstrangeglove]

Those above ground shelters may be ok for most storms, but I have seen where homes used to be and the tornado cleaned the slab off, and no debris was seen.
Mine is underground and you could drop a D6 on it, and it will survive.

 

[newbury]

We had a bomb shelter growing up in Essex Center, Vt. in the mid '60's My Grandfather, Father, and I built a duplex which with a full basement which included a 10'x20' fallout shelter. Double thick concrete block walls with sand poured in the concrete block cores.
Thankfully we never needed it for a fallout shelter but it made a great root cellar.
We were about 20 miles down range from Plattsburgh, NY which was a SAC base.

 

[drumminj]

I just scrolled through the FEMA link and really like how much information they provide. There didn't include any plans on how to build the room, but one of the things that caught my eye when looking at the requirements for rebar size and spacing in a cinder block wall had this in it.

"can withstand the tornado test missile"

For some reason, I found this line to be funny.

It's kind of fun to watch the certification tests for some of the products. Here are a few:

I have to say, it's got to be fun working in these labs as a college student!

 

[RayIN]

This might be in your interest level. Storm Shield Tornado Shelter
The ultimate survival shelter is: Gallery - Atlas Survival Shelters I suspect that is not in your plans though.

 

[MossRoad]

Have a pic of your house? Basement or crawl space? Access from inside the house is ideal. I'd look into digging out a spot for one of the pre-fab units, right next to the house.

I have a basement, but I've seen build "safe" rooms/structure built in the basements, to protect us from the house collapsing down on us. For me, I go down there and under the stairs.

I was told by a guy that stopped by last year (my age) who grew up in this old farmhouse, that they HAND DUG the basement under the existing house (in the 1960's I think), so it CAN be dug down and put under your house.

A long time ago I was friends with an elderly woman whose husband hand-dug basements under house for a living. He'd dig a cubby hole under the side of a house, install cribbing, keep digging to a point where he could slid a conveyor into the cubby hole. That would haul the dirt out to his dump truck. Eventually, he'd get the entire house on cribbing, jack it up a few inches, and dig out a perimeter into which he'd pour a footing and do block walls. Then he'd lower the house down on the new walls and finish digging out the dirt to make a full basement.

He was old, gnarly, and bent over. His wife said she had to pull him up into a sitting position on the edge of the bed and oil up his knees every morning. She'd go make breakfast and eventually he'd hobble downstairs, eat, and off to work. He put three kids through college. His boys would help him when they had time, but mostly he did it on his own.

The two of them are long deceased. They were a very cute couple. We'd see them in the grocery store holding hands. One day in church, he took her hand, leaned over on her shoulder and died. But if you have to go, I suppose that's the place. She moved in with her daughter and passed years later.

This is the house they lived in. If you look in the back, his drum truck and mixer are still there.

 

[EddieWalker]

Good story. Sometimes it's hard to comprehend how hard some people worked all their lives.

 

[MossRoad]

His wife was a bazillion years old when I met her at my last job. She kept "the book" that kept track of all ads going into and out of the ad services department, and organized the workflow most of the day. Sometimes you'd look over at her, and the pencil was in her hand, a word was half written, and her eyes were closed. We'd watch her and a few minutes later, her eyes would open and she'd pick up where she left off. Then she'd look around to see if anyone had seen her.

I was her supervisor. I didn't care. The work was always done, the book was meticulously kept, and I figured she was meeting all job requirements, so what the hey.

Anyhow, back to tornadoes.

 

[Blue Mule]

I have two clients with concrete shelters that are right outside their back doors. In the entire time that they have lived in their homes, they have never gone into those things when a storm is coming. Here, that usually happens at night, and sometimes after midnight. It's dark, windy, storming with heavy rain and even lightning. Nobody is leaving a dry house to go out there unless it's at the last minute.

This is an excellent point. It's really hard to convince people to get out of a warm bed in the middle of the night and go sit in a box. Especially if they have to go outside in the rain to do it. The more convenient you make the storm shelter, the more likely it is to get used.

The ones that are installed in the garage floor alleviate this concern, but introduce a new concern which is that in order to have it available for use you have to leave your vehicle outside in the wind and hail. A lot of folks don't want to go that route either.

In an ideal world an underground basement that's part of your living quarters would be nice. But when the wife and I built 8 years ago the cost was $30k to dig a basement.