Intresting.
Actual facts needed about storm shelters being sucked out of the ground/doors failing
- Thread starter dennishoddy
- Start Date
Intresting.
I worked at the may 3, 99, piedmont may of 11and the most recent. Never saw even one failure as described.
Saw a sloped front concrete with some cracking/chipping from a direct impact of ford pickup. But it held together fine. Also helped people out of two flat style ones during the piedmont twister near falcon lake.
One was blocked by debris, the other the door was jammed and wouldn't slide. Three of us jumped on the door and it popped back into the track straight. It was tweaked out of the track. No clue if it was suction or debris impact that caused it. There was nothing left of the house, even pulled the ceramic tile of the slab. The residents said the door was rattling like crazy and were scared peeless but never said they thought it was coming off.
Anything that gets you below ground is better than a closet. But I saw several above ground ones in Moore this time, they all worked fine also. My mom got one last year due to health problems that would make it difficult to get down the stairs.
These stories of doors sucked off and people being sucked to their deaths probably are more urban legend based in facts from older shelters with wood doors from the 30's and 40's.
sorry no pics,
Fog
Saw a sloped front concrete with some cracking/chipping from a direct impact of ford pickup. But it held together fine. Also helped people out of two flat style ones during the piedmont twister near falcon lake.
One was blocked by debris, the other the door was jammed and wouldn't slide. Three of us jumped on the door and it popped back into the track straight. It was tweaked out of the track. No clue if it was suction or debris impact that caused it. There was nothing left of the house, even pulled the ceramic tile of the slab. The residents said the door was rattling like crazy and were scared peeless but never said they thought it was coming off.
Anything that gets you below ground is better than a closet. But I saw several above ground ones in Moore this time, they all worked fine also. My mom got one last year due to health problems that would make it difficult to get down the stairs.
These stories of doors sucked off and people being sucked to their deaths probably are more urban legend based in facts from older shelters with wood doors from the 30's and 40's.
sorry no pics,
Fog
These stories of doors sucked off and people being sucked to their deaths probably are more urban legend based in facts from older shelters with wood doors from the 30's and 40's.
sorry no pics,
I believe your correct. This is the entire reason I posted this thread. We need facts.
sorry no pics,
I believe your correct. This is the entire reason I posted this thread. We need facts.
when I was a kid I was in a shelter that didn't even have a door and the tornado passed about 100 yards from us and we didn't get sucked out, I don't even remember the air pressure being that bad but I have forgotten more important stuff in the 25 years.
Great info Foghorn, thanks for digging those folks out. Might be me and mine next time.
Ive never seen a shelter door fail regardless of the type.
We are currently waiting to get the engineering signed off and send 2 doors down to texas for the testing. I dont want to go in to too much detail but our doors lock in a similar fashion to a safe.
We are currently waiting to get the engineering signed off and send 2 doors down to texas for the testing. I dont want to go in to too much detail but our doors lock in a similar fashion to a safe.
I wish I would have walked up and looked at the above ground shelters(safe rooms) that were standing on the slabs in after the Piedmont/Cashion tornado two years ago. They were the only thing left standing on the slabs, not sure if they were custom built or commercial. Looked like giant square septic tanks with steel doors on the side. Not 300y from these slabs I saw the following damage. 4 trucks that were unrecognizable, two of them had no axles, 100y wide strip of steel fence posts bent over at the ground, a 16'-20' two axle trailer with the hitch driven into the creek bank about 5'. Boats, motorcyles, see doo's crushed like cans, asphalt and grass pulled up from the soil, etc. Not sure of the wind speeds of that one (was an F5), it was the same one where the toddler was missing for a couple of days. There was a lot of good picture opportunities, but I don't like to take pics during a S&R.
Kinda related I guess, at least its an in ground shelter that floated up, it not only popped out of the ground, it popped out with around 1000#'s parked on top. By no means was this shelter installed even close to the proper way but someone must have thought it was. One thing this shows is those types of shelters can be very buoyant, with 4-6 people inside the thing it might still float up out of the ground.
Was that just buried in the dirt?
It's why they use sarcophagi in south Louisiana.
I never heard of a buried fiberglass storm shelter being sucked out of the ground by a tornado.
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