Severe Weather

[SoonerTexan]

Ugh it is supposed to be bad here today and I really want to go home--if only to keep my car from getting hailed on.

[ladymoreta]

My shelter door would not have required people to hold it, although we probably would have instinctively grabbed it if we were hit. Can't fight that kind of primal thing! It had a chain that wrapped around a steel loop several times. The pressure could pull on the door, but it couldn't unwrap a chain.

[Pollyanna]

Ours is a sliding door. Once closed it has 4 steel bolts that hold the door closed. Like LM said, I think it's just natural to hold the door even if it can't be opened.

[Cinderella]

Chains and steel bolts are what I'd want if we had a tornado shelter and maybe a sliding door too. If a house is leveled to the foundation and the shelter is in the garage is it ok? Is the shelter under the garage? What about if the rubble is on top of the shelter? Do you try to get out, or wait it out, or have a way to communicate with the outside that you're down there in the shelter? How does that work?

I saw the info on the severe weather warning in the DFW area today. It looks like a ticking time bomb. Stay safe iMSN peeps!

[DCJenn]

I'm sitting in Tulsa trying to get home tonight- the first two flights to DFW were cancelled this morning and the 3pm and 6pm flights are delayed.

It's our anniversary so I guess it's my turn to miss 'the day.'

J.

ooops- spoke too soon. Flight at 6pm is cancelled. Anyone want to bet that the flight at 3 which is now delayed to four is cancelled as well?

[ladymoreta]

If a house is leveled to the foundation and the shelter is in the garage is it ok? Is the shelter under the garage? What about if the rubble is on top of the shelter? Do you try to get out, or wait it out, or have a way to communicate with the outside that you're down there in the shelter? How does that work?

It's actually best if you have a car on top of it because that can sometimes keep enough debris off to open the door. Every storm shelter that is installed is registered with the city's 911 system, so if an area is hit, the emergency responders know to look for you. They can move the debris from it and open the door. I always charged my cell phone before a storm and took it down with me. It's a steel box, so you don't get signal inside, but if you can hold it out a little bit, you can call or text.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

So, I admittedly know nothing about tornadoes but why didn't that elementary school not have some type of underground shelter?

[SuzySunshine]

I'm sure at the time it was built they weren't common - the children that drowned were in the basement according to what I have read. An official was also quoted as saying any school built since the late 90's does have a storm shelter but this one was older then that.

[MrsK]

I grew up in FL and most of the schools doubled as hurricane shelters. I wonder why schools in tornado prone areas could not double as shelters for the community. . .

Me too. Because of this, I always think of public school buildings as fortresses. I have a hard time getting my head around the idea that my kids could be unsafe at school even though I know it's the case. I mean, my middle school and high school even had metal detectors at the doorways to search for weapons. And these were the cushy schools that the sheltered suburban kids attended. (The private schools, BTW, had all of this AND drug-sniffing dogs too.)

[MrsK]

. . . Still, I wonder why they don't make storm shelters part of the building code for new housing? Particularly if the cost is relatively low (under 3K), I would think that would be a good thing to have in a home with no basement. Don't they require earthquake friendly building techniques in earthquake areas?

I wonder if insurance companies will change their coverage. I know that in FL after Andrew and then the summer with three hurricanes in a row, insurance companies stopped covering waterfront condos for hurricane damage. That's when my mom moved off the water and inland.

. . . .

Also, after Andrew, the SoFL building codes changed. All new construction is CBS block from the foundation to the roof. No frame houses any more.

I'm sure at the time it was built they weren't common - the children that drowned were in the basement according to what I have read. An official was also quoted as saying any school built since the late 90's does have a storm shelter but this one was older then that.

DrK has a friend from the area. He says the school was built in the 1960s.

[medpedspouse]

Me too. Because of this, I always think of public school buildings as fortresses. I have a hard time getting my head around the idea that my kids could be unsafe at school even though I know it's the case. I mean, my middle school and high school even had metal detectors at the doorways to search for weapons. And these were the cushy schools that the sheltered suburban kids attended. (The private schools, BTW, had all of this AND drug-sniffing dogs too.)

Oh my gawd! Me too! Lived in what used to be the burbs and my junior high had drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors...that was back in the early 80s. Not having kids, I assume all schools are giant concrete buildings with little windows and metal doors.

[ides]

Retrofit. Really. Not sure about Moore but OKC schools are getting MAPS improvement money and adding new wings, ect. to their schools. Why they can't use some of that to build shelters or inner safe rooms that can double as a shelter is beyond me.

[Cinderella]

It's actually best if you have a car on top of it because that can sometimes keep enough debris off to open the door. Every storm shelter that is installed is registered with the city's 911 system, so if an area is hit, the emergency responders know to look for you. They can move the debris from it and open the door. I always charged my cell phone before a storm and took it down with me. It's a steel box, so you don't get signal inside, but if you can hold it out a little bit, you can call or text.

That's all good to know. Thanks for answering my curiosity.

[ladymoreta]

You're welcome! I get a lot of questions this time of year, and I'm happy to encourage people to install shelters.

[DCJenn]

Well, avoid South Texas right now unless you have an ark. We're under water. The pool is about to overflow into the flooded yard. We got 12 inches of rain in the last 24 hours.

J.