Storm Shelter Articles

Tornado Alley vs. Dixie Alley: A Comparison

People have heard the term “Tornado Alley” often enough to know that it is a region of the United States where tornadoes are the most prevalent. However, there is some disagreement over the area’s borders, and whether or not Tornado Alley is “shifting.” While there is no official boundary, the region typically includes the Great…

2022 in Tornadoes – A Look at the “Worst”

Your past 12 months are likely full of ups and downs. Looking back at 2022, many people will size up the events in their lives and the significant accomplishments or setbacks. The purpose might be to set an intention for the coming year or to figure out what we want to accomplish.At Survive-A-Storm, we’d like…

Choosing a Commercial Tornado Shelter for Your Business

Imagine being at work, all day you’ve heard the sound of driving rain, the skies are dark and now it’s starting to hail. While it’s bad weather, you can’t just leave work every time the sky looks threatening. You’ve just heard that the National Weather Service has upgraded your area from a tornado watch to…

Don't Risk It - Invest in a Commercial Tornado Shelter for your Business

Everyone knows tornadoes are risky. Thanks to Hollywood, we know that tornadoes can be dangerous, even deadly.At their least worrisome, an EF0 tornado can cause mild damage to outbuildings and small sheds, and take shingles off of roofs. At the other end of the Fujita scale, an EF5 tornado can have winds 200-300 mph and…

Measuring Tornado Intensity-F5 or EF5? The Differences

When it comes to measuring the intensity of tornadoes, you may have seen an “F5 tornado” referenced or an “EF5 tornado.” So, what is the difference, or are they essentially the same? Let’s take a closer look.The F and the EF reference the Fujita scale and the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF scale).  Both of these scales…

How to Write An RFP for a Commercial Tornado Shelter

If your company is in the market for a tornado shelter, chances are, you’ll want to get multiple quotes and find out what’s available before making your purchase.If you’re a small company with few employees, that might be an easy task; in fact, you might not even need a large commercial tornado shelter. In that…

When Hurricanes Cause Tornadoes

Most of the time, when we think of tornadoes, we think of deafening thunder, crashing hailstones, and, sometimes, green skies. (These are supercell tornadoes.) But, with a certain type of tornado – those caused by hurricanes – none of that is the case. Hurricanes and tornadoes have a complex relationship. Some hurricanes produce few or…

Introducing StormWarn - A Tornado Alert That Removes Doubt

It’s National Preparedness Month, but how prepared will you be when a tornado touches down in your area? As you may have read, the area known as tornado alley is changing, and tornados have touched down in all 50 states.If you live in an area where tornados are a common occurrence during parts of the…

Can I Use My Tornado Shelter During a Flash Flood?

You are under a flash flood warning, and it is pouring rain outside. Suddenly, you hear the sound of tornado sirens. Should you use an underground tornado shelter?The answer is a bit more complex than one might imagine.This situation actually occurred in Big Sandy, Texas, on the morning of August 22, 2022, as a tornado…

National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month, created by the federal government to encourage Americans to prepare for hazards of all kinds. At Survive-A-Storm, we understand safety and the importance of being prepared.What’s Your Tornado Plan?Will you be at work or at home? What’s your plan? How will you prepare? In our personal lives, that might mean…

A Modern View of Tornado Alley

Tornado Alley is a concept that seems simple but is a bit complex. Traditionally, tornado alley has been depicted as a stripe of states north-south through the Great Plains. The illustration from Wikipedia (below) is typical. But we now know that depiction is incomplete. The map below, from Tornado Archive, is a new map of…

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