I don't get it ... 80% of people in Oklahoma DON'T have a Tornado Shelter. Are they nuts ????

by RubaDub 60 Replies latest jw friends

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  RubaDub

  I really don't understand. How can any homeowner in his right mind, not have a Tornado Shelter ??? I understand that some people live in apartments and condos, but someone with any size yard (even a driveway) could have a Shelter.

  To me it's a no-brainer. If you live in Earthquake-prone areas like California, your house or commerical buildings have to be built to high standards. Here in Florida with the threat of hurricanes, homes have to built to withstand extremely high winds, windows that can withstand 150+ MPH winds, etc etc etc.

  In the case of a Tornado Shelter, we aren't talking about a major expense. A shelter is basically a hold in the ground. Nothing has to be fancy. Just some cinder block walls, a dozen gallons of water, some canned food, a radio with some batteries, a whistle or some other noise-making device, a few LED lights, several changes of underwear (for those who crapped their pants) and beer.

  I mean really, how can anyone in his right mind living in Oklahoma, Kansas or other Tornado Alley areas not have a Tornado Shelter ?

  Rub a Dub
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  soontobe

  Here in Florida with the threat of hurricanes, home have to built to withstand extremely high winds, windows that can withstand 150+ MPH winds, etc etc etc.

  Doesn't make much sense to me either. The construction there appears to be very shoddy. Even under our old codes (pre-Hurricane Andrew) the houses held up better than that. Sure, a lot of houses got leveled, but they were in those high winds for hours. We rode it out. I have to tell you, I'm not a fan of wood frame construction in a place with tornados and hurricanes (although I live in one now). Seems to blow right apart. Give me concrete block anytime.
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  mrsjones5

  I mean really, how can anyone in his right mind living in Oklahoma, Kansas or other Tornado Alley areas not have a Tornado Shelter ?

  A lot of folks there don't. I lived in Indiana for 7 years, 1 of which in an apartment. Neither had a storm shelter or a basement. Wish I could of had one. Fortunately I never needed it.
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  designs

  The News has said the homes sit on bedrock and it gets expensive to excavate a shelter. Some of the homes that did have shelters the families came through ok and a couple of times the people drowned when the basement shelter flooded. We had a concrete basement in our home near Los Angeles, built in 1924.
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  mrsjones5

  It might sound funny but folks back there think Californians are crazy to live in earthquake country.
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  RubaDub

  folks back there think Californians are crazy to live in earthquake country.

  mrsjones ...

  Yes, I don't like earthquakes either. It's just me, but when I am in California I never stay in a tall hotel. I know they are now constructed well, but I don't want to be in the one that was built prior to the newer codes taking affect.

  People say the same thing to us about how we can live in Florida with so many hurricanes. I find it amusing.

  First of all, typically only 1 or 2 hurricanes actually hit Florida each year and some just cause minimal damage.

  Second, you know days ahead of time that one is on the way! Typically those few who die in a hurricane here are just stupid and think they can ride out the storm themselves. If they just packed up their car and got away from the coast, they would easily survive.

  For all the natural type disasters, I would take hurricanes over others I can think of.

  Rub a Dub
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  LisaRose

  When I told people I was moving back to California (from Colorado), they always said I was crazy, why did I want to live where there was earthquakes. But in Colorado they have snowstorms, blizzards. crazy hail, hellacious winds, lightening and tornadoes, which probably affect far more people than earthquakes do in California. Yes, it is a risk, I have insurance, and have take reasonable precautions (furniture tie downs, earthquake putty, emergency supplies) . It seems crazy to me that people in tornado areas would not have a shelter, or would live in a mobile home for that matter.
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  designs

  We in California are long overdue for a big earthquake. The last sizable one was the Landers earthquake in the early 1990s a hundred miles north of us. It rolled through our house literally, we could see the hills in the valley north of us lifting and rolling. The quake lifted our house and patios like a wave before it breaks and set everything down with only minor cracks in some tile.
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  whathappened

  I am 59 years old and have lived in the midwest all my life and never have experienced a tornado touch down near me. Of course, that could all change at almost anytime.
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  Quendi

  Some of my family members live in tornado country in Alabama and Georgia. All of their homes have basements which also serve as tornado shelters. These are older houses which had basements built into them as a matter of course. They are mostly used for storage but double as shelters when severe weather arrives. The point about Moore, Oklahoma neighborhoods sitting on top of bedrock is a good one to explain the lack of basements for many of the homes there. Nevertheless, I would think that as a prospective homeowner, I would insist that my house have a basement with the frequency of tornadoes in that part of the country.

  We can be happy that despite the presence of an F5 tornado that had winds in excess of 200 mph/320 kph, only twenty-four are known to have died. That is still an appallingly large figure made all the more tragic by the fact that nine of the victims were children. We can be thankful that early warnings gave many time to seek cover and so get out of harm’s way.

  Quendi