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Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Tornado specific shelters are quite rare and mostly in communities that had a bad tornado in the proceeding decades. Many rural homes have cellars both for storing canned food and for storm shelter. The frequency of long track violent tornadoes is quite a bit lower than the Deep South or Great Plains, the odds of your house getting hit by a tornado during your lifetime is extremely low. There was nearly a 10 year gap between there being a bad tornado outbreak anywhere in the entire state, let along your town or neighborhood.
The problem with these tiny concrete boxes is that you may need to be in them for many hours at a time. Often, in areas where tornadoes are fairly common, you may get a tornado warning (meaning that tornadoes have been sighted in the area or radar has shown a likelihood of tornadoes in the area) several times a week during "tornado season".
These warnings can come at any time of day, but seem to be most common in the late afternoon or evening. Sometimes they're even in the middle of the night. Believe me, you'll get darn tired to being in a concrete box about the size of a small bathroom for several hours (or overnight) several times per week.
What are you going to do in there for hours at a time? You probably won't have a TV in there and there's likely not enough room for a comfortable lounge chair/recliner. So, after numerous false alarms, you'll probably quit going in there because it's simply "too inconvenient", and besides, the odds of a tornado hitting YOUR house are pretty darn small... only slightly greater than your chances of hitting the big LOTTO jackpot.
So, my advice, FWIW, is to either get/make/buy something that is roomy and comfortable such as a home with a large underground basement or forget about it. You'll spend many thousands of dollars buying something not much bigger than a coffin and after a short while grow tired of being cooped up in it every time the sky turns dark. Then your money is just wasted and you'll be no safer for the expenditure. I guess that on the bright side, it does make a good place to store your home-canned vegetables.
The problem with these tiny concrete boxes is that you may need to be in them for many hours at a time. Often, in areas where tornadoes are fairly common, you may get a tornado warning (meaning that tornadoes have been sighted in the area or radar has shown a likelihood of tornadoes in the area) several times a week during "tornado season".
These warnings can come at any time of day, but seem to be most common in the late afternoon or evening. Sometimes they're even in the middle of the night. Believe me, you'll get darn tired to being in a concrete box about the size of a small bathroom for several hours (or overnight) several times per week.
What are you going to do in there for hours at a time? You probably won't have a TV in there and there's likely not enough room for a comfortable lounge chair/recliner. So, after numerous false alarms, you'll probably quit going in there because it's simply "too inconvenient", and besides, the odds of a tornado hitting YOUR house are pretty darn small... only slightly greater than your chances of hitting the big LOTTO jackpot.
So, my advice, FWIW, is to either get/make/buy something that is roomy and comfortable such as a home with a large underground basement or forget about it. You'll spend many thousands of dollars buying something not much bigger than a coffin and after a short while grow tired of being cooped up in it every time the sky turns dark. Then your money is just wasted and you'll be no safer for the expenditure. I guess that on the bright side, it does make a good place to store your home-canned vegetables.
Several years back my husband and Son woke me up wanting me to come down to the basement because there was a tornado warning (funnel cloud spotted) they were all up in arms because I wouldn't come downstairs, instead stayed in bed sleeping.
The funnel cloud never touched ground. Tornado never happened.
This has been the case every time. In the 70's there was a big tornado that did ton of damages in Louisville, where I was living at the time...but nothing at all in my area.
I have been alive for 65 years now, and haven't experienced living through an actual tornado yet (Although, there were dozens, no more than that tornado watches and warnings)....I am just saying statistically....
Of course if one does touch down it can be deadly and devastating.
But for me a basement is good enough.
(Not sure if I am going to lose too much sleep over it all though.)
Last edited by Crazee Cat Lady; 10-17-2022 at 09:19 PM..
We live in my parents' old house. It has a partial basement but room to get down there. When they were alive and living here, my parents would sit in the small hallway in the middle of the house instead of going downstairs. Like I said, since my wife can't navigate stairs with her medical problems that's where we decided to sit. We could see the TV and the way the weathermen were talking, I was wondering if we were going to be safe. I was talking to my son on the phone as the tornado came through town and the phone signal messed up like it does when you're driving through a low spot. We made it though!
Please do some serious research if you are really basing your relo decision partially on a shelter.
There is free money out there. FEMA, county extension office, local power companies and shelter contractors are good sources.
How many people, pets and potential guests. If you are in there past 15-30 minutes you have a problem.
We had the first F5 guaranteed above ground in Ft. Worth. It was a struggle to get the building permit and needed the State whatever Engineer to sign off on it. The current one is in the garage. Consider maintenance and useage. I could not make it across the yard with two cages for 20+ pound cats. The outside ones have been known to pop up during periods of excessive rain.
...In the 70's there was a big tornado that did ton of damages in Louisville, where I was living at the time...but nothing at all in my area...
I was much too close to the 4/3/74 tornado(es)... which is why when the phone alerts go off, I pay attention.
When the sirens go off, I go to the basement.
I was much too close to the 4/3/74 tornado(es)... which is why when the phone alerts go off, I pay attention.
When the sirens go off, I go to the basement.
Yeah, that was the one I was talking about! A friend of mine was working at an all glass high rise building
in Louisville at the time (at Dunn and Bradstreet)on an upper floor, and they could see the funnel cloud forming and coming, then the electricity went out, stopping the elevators. She was pretty shook up.
Certain areas were completely hit hard though. I was a teenager at the time, still in school, but my parents were gone out of town for the day, but neighbors kept coming by to check on me, and see if I wanted to come over to their house... But it never really hit our neighborhood. That was enough though to get me to grab my dog Sugar Bear, a flashlight and a radio and head to the basement, until it was over.
Please do some serious research if you are really basing your relo decision partially on a shelter.
There is free money out there. FEMA, county extension office, local power companies and shelter contractors are good sources.
How many people, pets and potential guests. If you are in there past 15-30 minutes you have a problem.
We had the first F5 guaranteed above ground in Ft. Worth. It was a struggle to get the building permit and needed the State whatever Engineer to sign off on it. The current one is in the garage. Consider maintenance and useage. I could not make it across the yard with two cages for 20+ pound cats. The outside ones have been known to pop up during periods of excessive rain.
Thanks - I've been researching on permits, etc, too for Central KY. And I've also heard about the outside underground cellar that tends to pop out after a period of long and hard rain. Plus DH is claustrophobic so the below ground shelter is a hard no for him. I'm refocusing my research on above-ground shelter that can be built as an extra room for my small office, for example. Or in a garage if we end up buying an existing home. It's just for 2 people (DH and I) and we have no pets.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kygman
I don't know very many people who have bought a house with a basement mainly for tornado protection. Don't get me wrong. That's where people go if a tornado is coming, but it's not the main reason for buying a house. I live in Mayfield, where the tornado hit in December. Yes, homeowners covers the damage. And you don't have to report it right after the storm. We found a leak in our house last month, insurance adjuster came and looked at our roof, and the repairs are covered under our insurance. Not fond of the $1000 deductible though. lol Our problem in our house was getting to the basement. My wife has bad back problems and an arthritic hip and couldn't get up and down those steps. So we sat in the hallway away from windows and exterior doors.
There have been underground shelters sold around here more since the tornado. I looked in one a friend had put in his back yard. My problem is claustrophobia. I'd have to think long and hard which would be worse. Being in the middle of a tornado or stuck in that little hole in the ground, sealed up. There are some storm shelters made above ground. I think it's more or less poured concrete covering the shelter. Our church, which was totally destroyed, is planning on having a shelter next to the church.
kyman, how is the rebuilding going in Mayfield? Google maps updated their satellite imagery of the area and I see some new homes but most of downtown looks like 90% of buildings are gone.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,464,896 times
Reputation: 12187
Since this is in the Lexington forum worth noting that this area has historically far fewer tornadoes than areas just to west or north. Other than near misses during the 1974 Super Outbreak there have been almost no long track tornadoes in or near Lexington. In KY the further west you go the higher the threat of bad tornadoes. Also quite a few from Louisville into Cincinnati / Dayton.
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