Just the opposite on our street in 07, the stucco homes had mostly roof damage and the frame homes were collapsing on the sides or their garages were gone, etc, I guess a few yards one direction or another makes a big difference with tornado damage.

Thank you for the phenomenal contributions to this thread, especially MandoMan and VintageOGauge. While the "hardened" construction described by MM is through, it seems like an awful lot of work and effort to ensure it is done correctly. I'd just as soon buy a pre-built and tested / certified storm shelter and set it up somewhere to double as my gun safe. Might need a very big storm shelter, lol.

Those photos, VOG, Wow!!!!

Oh, as for the vagueness of my two-legged reference, it means criminals. Shady-folk. Thieves. Burglars. Drug-fueled zombies. A member of the class of people who are pushing people in front of subway trains in NYC - mentally disabled and aggressive. I did not mean E.T. or any off-planet being.

I know of two homes in The Villages that have a built in shelters. One was built when home was built and the second was added after the tornado hit the Mallory area at a cost of $1,000.00

Actually It appears the OP was trying to do just that...Tornadoes, Hurricanes equate to "storm shelters". Then the OP tries to slip in the what I call the "drive by comment"

The weather in Florida can be turbulent with many tornadoes and a few hurricanes added to the mix. So, I upgraded the one and only window in our smaller bedroom with a hurricane rated window. That will be our shelter room in the holly if tornadoes and or hurricanes are expected. In our master bedroom, I upgraded the two larger windows to hurricane windows in case I sleep through the first alert of a tornado. I now sleep better knowing that the windows may last through the storms. :icon_wink:

My other thoughts at the beginning on my stay (2015) in The Villages -> https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...helter+skelter

There's a saying in Georgia and probably elsewhere, "God hates Trailers". Georgia gets a lot of Tornados coming out of Alabama, and I've seen a couple in person and the aftermath of many more. I've seen nothing left of a house but the poured foundation, the only safe place to be for those is underground or a VERY fortified room as discussed previously.

When we visited a Del Webb in Ponte Vedra they had an option to build the master bedroom closet as a storm shelter. I think it cost $10K at the time in 2012.

It was just a few miles from the Ocean.

I told the salesperson I could not imagine why they weren’t building block homes only frame given their location.

I think a “ safe room” is a great idea.

Right after the 2007 tornado, our friend who lived in the village of Santo Domingo was concerned about the lack of a basement shelter. He had a tornado pit installed in the floor of his garage . The pit looks like an oil change pit and was roughly 4' wide x 8' long x approx 5' deep with stairs to walk down (don't recall the actual size). The top had a rolling steel cover that could be closed and locked. He then put chairs where they could sit and electric lanterns for light. He then used that spot in his garage to park his golf cart there, but could easily move it in the event that the shelter was needed. He has since sold that house, but at least one person in The Village has a tornado shelter. Now, all you have to do is to be good friends with him in order to get an initiation to come to his house during a tornado emergency. :pray:

With about 75,000 homes, I think chances of a criminal picking your house are very slim. There have been tornadoes here definitely. Hurricanes strictly or another matter if you look up the statistics while there are hurricanes that supposedly pass through by the time they get to Central Florida they are actually tropical storms that have been downgraded by that I mean their winds are down to 90 mph roughly versus 140 to 150 mph that define hurricanes. Although according to insurance companies they won't pay off because it's been declared a hurricane already by national weather centers. So in reality most people take everything in from outside and those that are in what I call trailers leave their trailers and go to the schools etc around here

By the way I've seen several TV shows with the guys from the home building series and they've shown how easy a 2x4 can penetrate a cinder block wall in a tornado or hurricane. So the guy above talking about reinforcing your walls is absolutely correct and some people recommend several layers of plywood on an inside wall as a make do solution. We have been told several times as a few people also suggest to use the interior master bedroom closet. We also keep several bottles of water and additional pantry supplies inside there just in case of a few days of not having electrical or good water . It can't hurt and we have things like canned vegetables and tuna as well that we rotate during the year

Gonna be HOT 🔥 in a tiny room in the garage unless you condition it

There is no need for a storm shelter here.

Wow, you seem to seek things from which to take offense. Since you are always expecting a "drive by comment" you may see them when none were actually made.

A 2-legged critter was a nice way of saying thief / robber. Nothing political there. Then someone inquired what I meant, so I elaborated.

Having spent decades working the streets, I am quite familiar with the drug-addicted zombies roaming America's streets and their capacity for violence when desperate.

Still, nothing political there. Perhaps some introspection on one's hyper-sensitivity and/or need to be constantly offended is due here?