Tornadoes, shelters, warning system
 

It seems with the changing weather patterns, we will be getting more tornadoes. God Bless the two lost souls in the Tampa area.

Questions:
Does anyone have a tornado shelter? Is there enough warning to get to it when necessary?

Living in a manufactured home I feel vulnerable. Will be building a deck, hopefully this summer, wondering about incorporating a shelter under it.

I see a lot of cement block homes being built, none with cement roofs. That might be a consideration for new construction.

Ideas, opinions? Thanks in advance.

Looked at our house, a Gardenia (block construction), and figured the closets were the best place to go in case of a tornado. One is on an outside wall, the other four inside walls.

I like that idea. My wife has so many clothes hanging in the closet that it would cushion us from an avalanche!!!

Phone call warning for dangerous weather.
 

A couple of years ago we went to the fire station and signed up to get a phone call in the event of dangerous weather or dangerous situations.


It called a year or two ago and told us that the police were chasing a bad guy in a nearby neighborhood. Lock up and stay in.

I would like to add something about tornado preparedness. You should include lighting devices in your safe area including glow sticks because not everyone remembers to change batteries in flashlights. Glow sticks never go dead.

1. Get a weather alert radio and have it on a table next to your bed. Mine went off twice last night to give a tornado watch alert AND a severe thunderstorm warning. I have mine set for Sumter County only so I do not pick up Marion or Lake alerts.

2. If you are seriously worried about a tornado shelter, thete is a company at Crystal River who makes them. Basically, it is a septic tank (brand new - not used) you keep in your garage - or outdoors if permitted. It has a door on the side and you just go in the concrete septic tank at the first warning and hunker down. No tornado could blow a concrete septic tank over or away.

I will opt for the interior closet.

If you are seriously worried about a tornado shelter, thete is a company at Crystal River who makes them. Basically, it is a septic tank (brand new - not used) you keep in your garage - or outdoors if permitted. It has a door on the side and you just go in the concrete septic tank at the first warning and hunker down. No tornado could blow a concrete septic tank over or away.


I could just see the ARC review form for this, and I can just imagine the discussions with the contractor getting it to match the outside design of the house and the color, not to mention the conversations with the neighbors........

Here is another thread on this subject from last year-> https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...helter-170732/

Now that I am in the Villages for several months, I will personally ask the powers to be about the correct room in a Village house to use as a shelter.

While I did not do any formal research, all of the suggestions I saw were;
Stay away from windows
Interior room
Basement if possible (no in TV)
The closets seem to be the best choice in TV as many of the houses in TV are open design, have large sliding glass doors, and relatively large windows.
Depending on the model, the laundry room might be a good alternative.

PS welcome to TV.

The walk-in closets often have an attic hole-panel in the ceiling. I read in a accounts of the powerful 2007 tornado here in TV that the intense pressure caused closet contents to be sucked up thru the attic ceiling entry hole.

Sounds dangerous and maybe somebody can verify that. It seems like the logical place to hide, but maybe not.

I disagree. If you have ever traveled thru the aftermath of a tornado, which I have done, and see things like combine moved from in front of a barn to 100 yards out in a field.............a little ole concrete septic would be of little value.

Our house (a Gardenia) has attic access in the garage, and the hallway off the second bedroom, no access from the closets. Also, after looking at the house some more, the second bathroom has a very narrow glass block window, and could provide suitable protection, but I still like the interior closet.

Don't be so sure about that. The EF5 that hit the Joplin, MO several years ago passed very close to the hospital and twisted the entire substructure of concrete pilings of that building and it was a big building. Entire structure had to be torn down and rebuilt. EVERYTHING in the direct path was flattened in the pathway. I was there the day after helping with search and rescue/recovery.

Hahahaha .... I'm thinking that would be the avalanche. Before we added more shelving, my clothes pulled the rack right out of the wall. What a mess. I felt so bad telling my husband, as he was the one that had to fix it. When I got home from work, it was as good as new with the exception of a large sign which read "ONE TON LIMIT".

Tornadoes are hellishly capricious. I have seen the aftermath where a house is destroyed while the one next door is untouched.

We have a Gardenia and the inside closet would seem to be the best choice. If there is time, grab a mattress to hide under and get into a position to protect your head and spinal column as much as you can. If you can't grab a mattress, try to get a blanket or comforter, maybe the couch cushions, anything to give yourself some protection from flying glass and debris.

A tornado can sound like a train coming. A green sky does not necessarily mean a tornado but I saw a green sky that did.

I have been through two tornados. But never without a basement. And they did not hit our house.

The first one hit at rush hour and it was devastating. People were killed. The second one hit at around 10:00 PM. No one was killed in that one but it did major damage in the area. Police had to set up roadblocks to keep curiosity seekers out and because looters can show up.

I was home for the one that hit in the later evening. I had not heard a siren and did not have the television on. Mr. Boomer was out of town.

I had decided to turn in but I could not go to sleep because our old Brittany Spaniel, who had lost most of her hearing by then, could not settle down. She just kept pacing around the bedroom and acting weird. I decided to turn on the television and there was the warning. We went to the basement.

I had been oblivious. But our dog knew somehow.

(I do not know why I am wide awake posting in the middle of the night, telling you all about my tornado experience.........and now I am thinking about our sweet old dog who knew what I did not.)

Dorothy Boomer