Storm Shelter Articles
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…
Before you buy a tornado shelter, there’s one fundamental question that you must know the answer to, “How many people do I need to protect?” Which may lead you to ask, “How do I determine what size tornado shelter to buy?”How many people will be in your tornado shelter?When the shelter is for your home,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Jo: [We’ll] get a profile [of the tornado’s structure] for the first time.Dr. Reeves: What will that do?Jo: If we know how tornadoes work, we can design a warning system.Dr. Reeves: Aren’t there warnings already?Jo: Right now, it’s three minutes. If we can get this information, we can increase it to 15, give people a…
Tornadoes are one of nature’s most elusive and almost mystical phenomena. As a result, a large number of myths have developed around them throughout the decades. Unfortunately, those myths can put you and your family in great danger if a tornado approaches. So, we’ll run down some of the most common:Tornadoes will not strike …
What caused this latest setback in the United States’ baby formula shortage? A derecho.”Abbott Laboratories said it has paused baby-formula production at its plant in Sturgis, MI, after recent thunderstorms flooded part of the facility, causing another setback for the company’s efforts to help alleviate a nationwide formula shortage.”Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf…
Tornadoes are far deadlier than most realize. Until the Weather Bureau began tornado warnings in the 1950s, tornadoes caused triple-digit death tolls surprisingly often. It is estimated that during a bad year, such as 2011, total tornado deaths in the USA might exceed two thousand if warnings didn’t exist.While tornadoes have happened in all 50…
How Sheltering Saved Lives in These Similar Tornadoes Seventeen deaths versus zero deaths. An important tornado safety lesson was gleaned from the recent tornado affecting Wichita and Andover, Kansas. On April 29, 2022, a strong tornado touched down in the far southeast part of the City of Wichita at 8:10 pm. The 2022 tornado moved…
Imagine working in a warehouse with the sound of hailstones pounding the roof, while thunder periodically roars. You check the radar on your smartphone but it is just a mass of confusing colors. Apprehension rises among the staff as something feels “off.” Suddenly, the sound of wind becomes deafening as the west wall begins to…