Backyard Storm Shelters Become Relics Of The Past

[Purveyor]

(05-27) 12:36 PDT Little Rock, Ark. (AP) --

When storm clouds threatened Tornado Alley back in the 1930s and `40s, thousands of families knew just where to go: a bunker-like cellar or underground shelter in the backyard that could withstand even the strongest twister.

But old-fashioned storm shelters have become relics of the past as developers increasingly build homes and entire neighborhoods without them. That leaves many people with nowhere to go except an interior hallway or a bathroom when the sirens blow. And as this week's storm in Joplin proved, that's often not enough.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/05/27/national/a123613D39.DTL#ixzz1NaGN1LL4

[Zoeisright]

1. If a tornado is EF4 or 5, the only way to survive is to be underground.

[Purveyor]

2. Way underground! Some of the footage of the Joplin storms show

basement foundations but everything else has been 'sucked out'.

[Distant Observer]

3. A standard concrete and steel structure or basement area would survive, underground or above

as long as there are no windows and the ceiling is also concrete and steel slab. Such a room is part of standard construction guidelines in many hurricane zones.