Oaklahoma twister Moore

[UK4X4]

some very sad pictures and news coming out from there.- even the school which looks to be mostly a concrete struture collapsed

if you live in those zones possibly affected by twisters  I just don't know why everyone does not have a shelter.

My thoughts and hopes go out to those effected

bet this guy is very happy with his 2000usd investment in a shelter rather a a new car



This one brought tears to my eye's and they are the lucky ones that survived, hopefully with their family intact

[John Raabe]

Thanks for those photos and comments UK4X4. You caught the humanity.

Shelters are the best tornado insurance of all. With a direct hit from something like this, there is no more arguing about codes and framing techniques - that building is going through a very powerful mixer and you best be anchored tight into the ground. Our grandparents and great-grandparents from the plains knew the value of the storm cellar.

Here's a search on HOW TO BUILD ONE

[astidham]

for the past 2 days, my family and I have been in and out of our tornado shelter.
I had a shelter installed June 8th of last year. the total cost was $2000. which included the back hoe work and installation.
best piece of mind investment I have ever made.
we live in Skiatook OK, which is northeastern Oklahoma.
we had high winds, heavy rain and quarter sized hail last night, but nothing like our brothers and sisters south of us had.
right before the storms, the cattle all came down off the hill to take cover in a area with lots of trees.
before the hail started, they all snuggled around trees, like they knew it was coming.
I guess they are smarter than we give them credit.

[UK4X4]

Fema design guidlines for personal - business shelters

http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1536

[Tickhill]

When we built our house, I took a 10' x 16' corner of the basement and made a safe room out of it, all 4 sides are minimum of 8" thick concrete with steel fire door that opens in. Best room in the house when weather turns nasty, we had son and family and niece's family sleep over last night because the weather cell that passed thru Moore, OK came thru our neck of the woods last night.
If we ever build again, it will have a basement!

[Don_P]

Three of our family members were headed home to OK city from a wedding we all attended when the storms hit, they took shelter twice, I'm grateful for cellphones.

It's too early for anyone to say anything much about this one but looking back to the Joplin twister, 85% of the homes that failed would not have, if they had been built to current codes. While it is true that in a storm of this power the building materials in the line of the direct path fail many of the outlying buildings fail due to substandard construction. This has a human cost not only for the occupants but also for their neighbors who are impacted by the debris and for responders who have to search through houses they shouldn't have to. Our country has the most tornados of anywhere in the world, don't ignore the lateral force resisting elements.

Tickhill, I see you saw that shelter door, the debris, and thought "lucky break" as well. An outswing door can trap you. We've built poured shelters under several porches in the midwest complete with a poured cap. We then covered with an elastomeric coating, put sleepers and decking over them for aesthetics.