Tornado Shelter Articles
As the sun sets on a quiet suburban neighborhood, families gather in their homes in relative comfort and security. Inside, children play in the living room, parents prepare the evening meal, and the world outside is a distant concern. It’s a testament to the peace that a safe home can offer. But, there’s also an…
Tornadoes are unpredictable and if you’re not prepared the results could be devastating – injuries to you and your family, or even death. The best way to stay safe during a tornado is inside a tornado shelter. Installing a tornado shelter at your home requires a lot of consideration and careful planning. We’ve covered the intricacies…
Imagine this scenario:Dark clouds are gathering rapidly in the sky, a warning siren is howling in the distance, the wind is picking up an ominous speed and you have a building full of employees and customers.Tornado shelters are an essential part of staying protected against severe weather. That is no less true during the hours…
Social media has changed us as a society. Instant opinions are everywhere. It’s no surprise that even the most well-intentioned topics face scrutiny from naysayers. Tornado shelters, designed to be safe havens during severe storms, are no exception.We have many kinds of shelters because there are many, many different environmental concerns in the US. Think…
This post was created in November 2013, but has been updated in 2023 for accuracy and to reflect current details. The National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) was formed in 2001 with the idea of protecting people from tornadoes and other disasters by ensuring that their members produce and sell the highest quality storm shelters possible. The…
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…
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…
In 1998, FEMA published a guide called “Taking Shelter From the Storm.” The publication, currently in its Fifth Edition, includes construction plans and specifications for building a storm shelter safe room for your home. It is officially called FEMA P-320, but is most commonly referred to as FEMA 320.The tornado shelter construction plans are still…
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,…
Want near absolute safety in a tornado or hurricane? Install a safe room or community storm shelter. That’s the advice from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), which has established guidelines to make sure community members are safe during extreme-wind events. Those FEMA guidelines for the design and construction of community safe rooms are based…
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…