Safe rooms?

[Jaxom]

I know I got a lot on my plate right now. But after reading lalaland's post about storms I'm wondering....

Where I'm interested in moving is well known for strong storms and tornado's. Oddly, Illinois isn't offically in "tornado alley". Yet our state holds the record of the most tornado's durnig a 24hour period (over 100) and the longest lasting F5 on the ground. (Actually started in Mossuri, jumped the Mississippi ran all the way across the state, and into Indiana).


Here are options I'm concidering. If I end up renting an apartment for a while. Look for garden apartment or one on a middle floor, preferably on the eastern side of a building. Use bathroom as safe room

If I rent or lease option a house. Either build a safe room in the basement or make a shelter in yard.

If I rent a trailer..... I haven't a clue!!! Anyone in a trailer have suggestions. I don't know anyone living in a park, do they have community shelters?

What's you're plan if the sierens go off telling you to find a bunker?

Curious,

Jax

 

[lalaland]

Hi Jax,

even though I was plenty scared during that storm, I'ld have to say that I think the chances of getting injured during a tornado are nothing compared to your chances of a serious car accident.

some trailer parks have a community storm shelter

I wouldn't worry about which side of an apartment building you rented, if a tornado hit it, it probably wouldn't matter much. Tornadoes didn't use to be common in metro areas - something about the heat generated by all that asphalt interferring with the wind - but in the past two years Mpls has been hit by tornadoes. no injuries with those storms.

anyway, my advice is to keep storm safety in the back of your mind, and invest in a weather radio. If there is a warning sounded, you could always find a neighbor who has a basement.

Now see, as nervous as I was the other night, I didn't go to either of the neighbors I know who would have been welcoming to me and been perfectly pleased to let me shelter from the storm . That's because while I was scared, the rational part of me knew that the liklihood of this house getting it was darned small.

 

[Jaxom]

Reason I mentioned which side, most of you your newer construction multi floored (even 2 story) apartment building have concrete floors and cinderblock walls.

I know about cities being hit. I remember watching when I belive it was Memphis had a couple hit. Here, just south of me in the late 60's an F3 hit the south side of Chicago, about 20 died. More reciently, west of here another area got hit. Thankfully because of newer warning systems only 2 died. In my own home town, we've had funnel clouds go over but never drop to ground. Most that happened was part of a wall on a K-mart was torn down.

I'm not gonna loose any sleep over storms. I actually kind of get a bit excited when they come through. But the years of being in boyscouts, and the constant "be prepared" being drummed into me, well, that's all I have to say about that....

 

[i_am2bz]

If I rent a trailer..... I haven't a clue!!! Anyone in a trailer have suggestions. I don't know anyone living in a park, do they have community shelters?

What's you're plan if the sierens go off telling you to find a bunker?

I live in a mobile home & think about this a lot (well, when there's a tornado warning)...I don't live in a park, per se, but the entire development is about 200 MHs...we have NO community shelter & NO one has a basement here. It's scary when the weather guy says you're better off OUTSIDE than being in a MH during a tornado!!

I have checked out websites that offer pre-made shelters, but they're pricey & I don't know how I would get one to my place (I seem to remember they're all made in tornado alley places, naturally).

I've also seen plans for make-your-own shelters, made out of cinder block, with cement poured into the holes & rebar to hold it all together.

I'd be really interested in hearing if others on the forum have made their own shelters.

 

[Mackay]

I don't know about that asphalt thing making cities too warm for tornados. We got tornados in Dallas Texas all the time. Its a huge city.

If you are in a trailer park you sure want an option.

Dig a large hole. place a metal covert in it big enough for you and who ever to crawl in, preferably into the side of a slope. Cover it with a few feet of dirt, plant grass, bushes, etc. You want it to be fairly level with the land when you are done but a hump is ok as the tornado will just glide right over it. Generally a safe place is to be covered below the level of the earth, so laying flat in a ditch is safer than standing on land. Keep a flashlight stored in it.

 

[Marshmallow Man]

I don't think I would want to be in a mobile home during a tornado. It seems like whenever there are casualties in a tornado it involves a mobile home park. If you had a mobile home somewhere that allows you to dig holes do what she said. I f you're in a house with a basement just find a good place. I would be scared to death of getting trapped. I'm very claustrophobic.

 

[Farmfresh]

Hi there from Tornado Alley!

The best suggestions are for sheltering during a tornado in a basement or root cellar. Occasionally that does not work so well when the house caves in on top of people!

The next best place is in an interior closet or someplace where there are no windows (flying glass and debris) and as much building structural supports as possible. In a doorway is safer than in the middle of a room for example.

If you are outside (or in a trailer park) they recommend laying on your stomach with hands over your head in a ditch. I used to work for Worlds of Fun theme park during the summer months. The tornado plan there consisted of directing the park guests away from the items in the park most likely to be thrown about during a tornado and down into the parks drainage ditches.

Tornadoes move FAST! But the actual tornado also passes by pretty quickly as well. So the time you would need to be actually in a ditch wouldn't really be very long.

The thing to realize about tornadoes is that they are pretty localized. A couple of years back my daughters house was hit by the remnants of a tornado. That particular storm had bounced it's way in a line across the middle of our town. The first area that it struck massive 150 year old oak trees were left standing upright but their trunks were twisted so bad it looked like a giant had twisted some taffy. Other whole adult hardwood trees lifted completely out of the ground and a few of those were tossed like kindling on top of peoples homes. Roofs were damaged. Cars were damaged.

Then the twister popped up for a bit and did nothing. A few miles farther it came down again. Completely eliminated an Arby's restaurant, yet left the Taco Bell and the Trailer sales business on either side of it unharmed as well as leaving ALL of the businesses on the other side of the road with no damage. By the time it popped up and down again my D1's house just had roof damage, lost her privacy fence and many of her trees had limbs ripped out.

She said she heard it coming and opened the window to look out. Suddenly her hair was sucked out the window!! At that point she ran to the basement. Everyone was safe even her animals.

The main things to remember are:

Have a plan. Have some place picked to go to and if possible have an emergency kit in that spot or a bag you can easily grab. Have a weather radio, water, food, flashlight and first aid stuff at minimum in the kit.

Listen to the weather man. Certain conditions MUST exist before a tornado is likely. The weather man can usually see the conditions developing. Having lived her my whole life I can tell as well. The sky looks funny usually kind of purple, the air feels heavy and kind of electric and I swear there is a smell in the air. A tornado may not always happen, but when it gets like that I usually turn on the radio and be aware.

If you hear a tornado siren MOVE!!! My SIL who was raised in the OC in California still just doesn't get it. He was not home when the tornado hit my D1's house - thank goodness. He has heard the siren before and just kept on with what he was doing. My D1 couldn't get him to understand - they come FAST.

If you are ever in a house and feel a vacuum (like my D1's hair out the window) or hear the drain in the house making a sucking sound. Get to safety FAST. It's here!!

Now that I have you good and spooked I will tell you about my Grandma Nettie. I have seen a good many tornadoes because of her! She would go outside and watch until it was almost upon us then dash to the basement. Crazy old Heifer!! Another time a tornado funnel paralleled us down a highway for many miles! It was on the edge of a field near the horizon so I could see it WAY too well, yet it was actually pretty. As long as it stayed far away from us.

 

[mlynd]

I am scared of them I was raise on the coast and the only thing we worried about was hurricanes now i live in Indiana and we have gotten some tornados here not bad ones but enough to make me run for the hills the weather man says find a low place u can bet this girl is in the celler and the kids are there before he even says that LOL

 

[i_am2bz]

If you are in a trailer park you sure want an option.

Dig a large hole. place a metal covert in it big enough for you and who ever to crawl in, preferably into the side of a slope. Cover it with a few feet of dirt, plant grass, bushes, etc. You want it to be fairly level with the land when you are done but a hump is ok as the tornado will just glide right over it. Generally a safe place is to be covered below the level of the earth, so laying flat in a ditch is safer than standing on land. Keep a flashlight stored in it.

I've thought about doing something like that. We own the property so we COULD dig some kind of hole, but this place is all rock-hard clay (hence, my garden is in raised-beds)...I would have to get a back-hoe in here. :/

I also worry about the pets...I could probably grab a dog under each arm & carry them out...maybe...if I wasn't completely freaked out by a tornado coming up behind me...

 

[Farmfresh]

If you have room to make a safe room, we SS'ers need to make it work double duty and make it a root cellar!! You can't have tornadoes all of the time.