Underground tornado shelter

[HMFIC]

By that time tornado season will practically be over.

Just in time for the fall version...

I've always said we have four seasons here in Oklahoma: ICE, TORNADO, HOT, & TORNADO

 

[Hump66]

Anybody know anything about these guys?

http://www.aaronsstormshelters.com/storm_shltrs_pics.htm

 

[freemind]

I had one installed in my garage. It works great, it is flush with the floor and I can even drive over it no problem. I live in a tornado path so I’ve had to jump in there a few times already. My installer is in OKC though.

 

[saddlebum]

Plywood doors on the Oz ???

steel, I have a smart safe in the garage floor so i don't know all the details on the oz. i helped him clean up after the storm and looked at it then

 

[KOPBET]

steel, I have a smart safe in the garage floor so i don't know all the details on the oz. i helped him clean up after the storm and looked at it then

Most of the photos on the site have plywood. Perhaps a temporary thing, but it doesn't look good at all.

 

[Erick]

Umm.. Tornado season comes back every year Dude. Better late than ever... Go composite. The Galvanized models are only garanteed for 10 yrs.. the composite is 25+ years.

About the same price... the galvanized is a tad cheaper.

I agree, better to have it in before fall and next spring! Flatsafe is offering a 25 year guarantee on their galvanized safe. I asked the lady earlier this year about the FRP safe and she actually recommended the galvanized over the FRP. For $3,000.00 cash, I am pretty happy about the deal.

 

[FullAuto]

Thanks for posting that. I was going to ask if anyone had evidence of an above ground shelter actually surviving a tornado.

I'd still like to see a report on the shelters in Joplin. Surely there were a bunch of shelters in the path of that one and the damage vs. saftey would be a good thing to see.

I would think that these companies would want to have very specific information available on the ones that survived becaues that is the proof in the pudding.

I was in Guthrie this weekend and saw several shelters that saved lives. One of our customers had moved from California recently and his inlaws told him if he lived in Oklahoma, he needed a storm shelter. The inlaws bought him one and it was installed in April. It was all that survived. Two of his neighbors across the street had above ground safe rooms and I could see them just through the debris piled all around them. I don't know who made them, but they worked. I wish I would have taken pics to keep. I started taking pics to save later in the day.

This is the remains of a different customers house. Notice the shelter in the background. Neighbors to both sides looked the same.

 

[HMFIC]

I was in Guthrie this weekend and saw several shelters that saved lives. One of our customers had moved from California recently and his inlaws told him if he lived in Oklahoma, he needed a storm shelter. The inlaws bought him one and it was installed in April. It was all that survived. Two of his neighbors across the street had above ground safe rooms and I could see them just through the debris piled all around them. I don't know who made them, but they worked. I wish I would have taken pics to keep. I started taking pics to save later in the day.

This is the remains of a different customers house. Notice the shelter in the background. Neighbors to both sides looked the same. View attachment 17084

Amazing pic... thanks for sharing.

For the "safe room" type of shelters, I'm wondering what would become of those in an F4 or F5 situation where you have entire homes, cars, etc... battering around in the wind. Years ago, I looked into one of the big 4x8 type of above ground steel rooms that you put in your garage or have installed inside during a build. The nice thing is that you could also use it as a big gun safe too for dual purpose. I just wonder how they would stand up (or if they would) to a car slamming into them.

 

[saddlebum]

Most of the photos on the site have plywood. Perhaps a temporary thing, but it doesn't look good at all.

the three pics on the page i linked too are steel door. he call them afterward and they came out while we were cleaning up and painted the front(it was pretty mared up) and stuck those yellow oz magnets on there and took pics. its my understanding when he decided to rebuild in newcastle they bought the lot in moore and the shelter is still there

 

[Perplexed]

Amazing pic... thanks for sharing.

For the "safe room" type of shelters, I'm wondering what would become of those in an F4 or F5 situation where you have entire homes, cars, etc... battering around in the wind. Years ago, I looked into one of the big 4x8 type of above ground steel rooms that you put in your garage or have installed inside during a build. The nice thing is that you could also use it as a big gun safe too for dual purpose. I just wonder how they would stand up (or if they would) to a car slamming into them.

Another advantage to the above-ground shelters - it'd be a heck of a lot easier for a handicapped person to get into one of those rooms than to go down steep and narrow steps into a pit. Be a lot easier too to herd the family pets quickly through a door into a room, especially if you have multiple panicked pets and a tornado is bearing down on your neighborhood.

But I like the idea of an in-ground shelter, if for no other reason than it'd be handy for working on the underside of your car