Storm shelters, tornado alley?

23 comments

1. No.

2. No. There are storm shelters around towns where such disasters would happen.

   You can find shelters here: [https://www.disasterassistance.gov/information/immediate-needs/emergency-shelter](https://www.redcross.org/get-help/disaster-relief-and-recovery-services/find-an-open-shelter.html)

3. In most towns(grew up in North Texas) a lot of houses will have storm cellars from previous land owners. Tornados are awesome forces of nature. Been through and survived tornadoes almost ever other summer of my life. Oklahoma gets real ugly ones, but mostly just property damages. If you don’t have access to a storm cellar nearby you can always go to any court house near you. Not sure if it’s mandated but we sometimes got caught up in a storm while grocery shopping and could only take the shorter option to the courthouse that would be unlocked during storms instead.

4. Just because Tornados are more prevalent in tornado alley, it doesnt mean that the chance of any individual ever being in, or even seeing in person a tornado in their lifetime is anything more than miniscule.

   Think about it this way, the largest tornado ever on record was the El Reno tornado and was estimated to be 2.6 miles wide at its peak. Now thats the record, most tornados as MUCH smaller, not even a 10th of a mile wide for example. The average tornado damage path is 1 to 2 miles long. So even a big tornado that is half a mile wide and travels 2 miles, that effected area is incredibly small when compared to the size even small towns or cities, let alone large metropolises.

   Thats not to say that people dont get hit by tornados, its just that the chance for any one individual to be hit by a tornado is orders of magnitude smaller than getting in a fatal car crash, for example, even in tornado alley.

5. Not compulsory by law, but many cities will have building codes designed for severe weather requiring things like hurricane clips

   And yes I have survived more than my fair share of tornadoes

6. I have survived a direct hit by an EF3 tornado. I was young and at my grandmothers trailer. The sirens started and I was already outside. There was no rain, and I personally only recall some clouds, but suddenly it got darker and my grandmother grabbed me, tossed me in the bathtub and put the mattress over us. The entire trailer shook and it sounded so loud almost like this weird rumbling. I can’t remember much of what it looked like but afterwards a solid half of the trailer park was demolished and I looked it up 3 people died in the park.

   If I am being honest between that and experiencing Hurricane Andrew at a very young age both served as a basis for my interests. I started storm chasing in high school and now am in my final year studying meteorology at a university in hopes of eventually becoming a researcher. Ironically my interests have moved to Antarctic meteorology instead of tornados though.

7. No. If you live in a house with a basement, you just use the basement. Generally speaking, you want to be in the most internal room at the lowest floor of the building. So that could be the basement. Or a closet or bathroom in the middle of the house on the first floor. If that’s not possible, like in an apartment building, it’s just most internal room (often a bathroom). Storm shelters are rare here (because most houses built in my area have basements).

   The closest I’ve been to a tornado was back in June. It got as close as 2mi south of my place, but “luckily” it was just an EF1. Lots of downed trees and branches and mostly minor structural damage to some buildings. As far as I know, not even an injuries. Was definitely a scary night, holed up in my bathroom at like 2am.

8. So glad you asked.

   Public storm shelters do not exist. You can have a private one put in for about $5,000 (starting price) but no, there are no public storm shelters, and there is no law requiring you to have them even though there probably should be in our building codes.

   The city of Moore got leveled in 2013, 24 people were killed.

9. You don’t need one, but more than likely your basement/cellar can function as a makeshift shelter!

   The MN Historical Society has a nightmare inducing tornado simulator

10. There are places where trailer parks are required to have tornado shelters. As someone who lives in what is called Dixie Alley, I wouldn’t live in a home that didn’t have access to a below ground or hardened shelter.

11. A tornado passed within half a mile of my house in April.

    Almost everyone has basements or some kinda underground shelter but the city has a bunch of shelters as well if you’re caught while out of the house

12. It’s not compulsory in Georgia, but many houses have basements, and there are areas in most basements that are the most favorable for survival. A few friends have houses with specific cutouts/niches within the basement that are specifically created for tornado survival.

    My house has a basement, but not a specific tornado area within it. It’s a “daylight basement,” so the rear area is a regular wall to the back yard, but the front area is up against dirt with a concrete wall, and one corner has dirt to 8′ tall on both sides, so that’s my “tornado corner.” I wear my full-face motorsports helmet if I have to go down there in anticipation of a tornado hit.

13. Not compulsory, but it’s becoming more and more common for a city to construct at least one storm shelter where I’m at.

14. No, and basements are a bitch and a half to keep structurally sound in a good chunk of the alley’s southern end.

    I have lived in tornado alley for 30-odd years and never had one hit closer than a few miles away. They are MORE common than other places, but they are still not common on the scale of an individual being likely to be directly hit by one in their lifetime. Their city or county, sure, but not the person. When they do crop up they are also very localized compared to say….flooding, hurricanes or wildfires.

15. I stayed at an RV park in Oklahoma that had an underground storm shelter. First one I’d ever seen.

16. No, but some insurance companies prefer it to happen, or will even build the replacement house with a storm shelter or hardened room, a lot of third garage stalls have been converted into Concrete shelters.

    Some Municipalities will require trailer parks to have a storm shelter on the ground.

    There are occaisionally State programs to help people build storm shelters as well.

    But there is no systemic requirement or building code.

17. Lol no. There are plenty of neighborhoods here where the only shelter is a community center in the vicinity. Plenty of people have to shelter in a bathroom, hallway, etc. I have been through 3 tornadoes now and I was only in an official shelter for the last one. Currently, though, there’s a FEMA shelter literally right outside my apartment door.

18. An F2 tornado hit my house the summer I graduated high school. Besides the tornado sirens warning of tornado spawning conditions, our first indication something was wrong was when our neighbor’s patio umbrella came through our kitchen window. After a quick but mad dash to the basement set to the deafening sound of a freight train, we emerged to find part of our roof missing and a bedroom window blown in onto the bed, still intact in its frame.

    After the initial shock, we looked outside to see the three houses across the street had each lost their entire roofs. The neighbors directly across the street from us had been in bed and woke up to their bedroom ceiling being peeled off like a lid to a yogurt cup.

    Thankfully, the only injury was someone stepping in a piece of broken glass in the aftermath, and all told the tornado was only on the ground for 1/4 of a mile.

19. No storm shelters aren’t mandatory. Some places have them, I lived in one town where the storm shelters had been designated as nuclear fallout shelters during the cold war. You knew what it was by the atomic symbol on the sign.

    Also certain communities have building requirements for tornados. Things you wouldn’t notice, like certain types of fasteners for roofs, or prohibiting particular building materials. Check out Joplin MO for an example of subtle building requirements.

20. Depending on where you live, laws and building codes require new schools to be built with a tornado shelter, but I’ve never heard of it being required for a residence.

21. Our town got hit by an EF4. The only death was a guy trying to film it with his camera. Plenty of warning for people to get to their basements

22. There are often designated storm shelters in public spaces but in reality, if a tornado hits you don’t have time to go to one. You go to the safest space where you are. This would be a basement if you have one. If not, the innermost room with no windows on the lowest floor. Bathrooms are usually a good choice.

    I survived a direct hit of an EF3. It hit in the wee hours of the morning with no notice and didn’t even have time to reach my shelter. Tornadoes are so scary because there is often no notice. Do your best to seek shelter and hope you’re not unlucky that day.

23. My friend’s sister lived in a tiny town that had some public tornado shelters. No one used them because they were full of rattlesnakes. They liked it that way for would catch the snakes for whatever Oklahoma reasons they had.