Need help identifying an in ground storm shelter

[AirMech74]

I didn't get a pic of the top of the sliding door, but it has a circle vent and is painted blue on the inside....I will get a better pic of it tomorrow.

I am building a house and told my contractor I wanted a shelter in the garage...I am pretty sure he told me it would be from Ground Zero, but it doesn't look anything like the ones I've seen.

Any of you guys willing to post a pic of the top of your in ground shelter so that I can maybe see which one I actually got?

 

[yukonjack]

I sure hope you get one large enough that you can stand up straight in it. If you're having a house built spend a little extra money and get something that doesn't feel like a coffin inside.

 

[TerryMiller]

OK. Just for the sake of information, I would NEVER install a shelter in my garage. The predominate direction of most tornadoes are from the Southwest, so I would install an outdoor shelter on the Southwest side of the house and away from any trees from the Southwest.

If your home were to collapse, you would be trapped under the rubble. Yes, many communities may allow residents to register their shelter and its location to be checked by law enforcement or other community workers, but how long might it take for them to go around to all the locations?

Back many, many years ago, my Mother-in-Law was trapped in a shelter by a tree that had fallen over. She was just a young child at the time. It took all the adults in the shelter pushing against the door to open it just enough for her to escape and walk several miles to the next farm for help. After that, she refused to ever go into another shelter.

 

[BikerHT]

This is what I'm looking at... http://www.atlassurvivalshelters.com/

Trying not to have to settle for something like this... http://www.tsicontainers.com/

 

[SoonerBorn]

OK. Just for the sake of information, I would NEVER install a shelter in my garage. The predominate direction of most tornadoes are from the Southwest, so I would install an outdoor shelter on the Southwest side of the house and away from any trees from the Southwest.

If your home were to collapse, you would be trapped under the rubble. Yes, many communities may allow residents to register their shelter and its location to be checked by law enforcement or other community workers, but how long might it take for them to go around to all the locations?

Back many, many years ago, my Mother-in-Law was trapped in a shelter by a tree that had fallen over. She was just a young child at the time. It took all the adults in the shelter pushing against the door to open it just enough for her to escape and walk several miles to the next farm for help. After that, she refused to ever go into another shelter.

Yeah, and large debris never falls out of the sky during a tornado and possibly on top of an outdoor shelter. Give me a break.

 

[noslogto]

There are pros and cons to both. Personally I love our Flatsafe garage shelter. No more running out in the rain and lightning for me.

 

[yukonjack]

Yeah, and large debris never falls out of the sky during a tornado and possibly on top of an outdoor shelter. Give me a break.

I've never seen that happen, in real life. I have seen people that were trapped in their garage floor shelters.

 

[LightningCrash]

I've never seen that happen, in real life. I have seen people that were trapped in their garage floor shelters.

Did they survive?

 

[vvvvvvv]

Yeah, and large debris never falls out of the sky during a tornado and possibly on top of an outdoor shelter. Give me a break.

Odds are significantly increased when your shelter occupies the same dot as your nearest source of large debris rather than being a small dot in a vast expanse where large debris could possibly fall.

Odds are in the house's favor to win when your shelter is already buried by it.

 

[travisstorma]

The predominate direction of most tornadoes are from the Southwest, so I would install an outdoor shelter on the Southwest side of the house and away from any trees from the Southwest.

It would depend what part of the tornado hit the house and size. If you couple a wide tornado that isn't a dead on hit to the structure, you could have debris slung back to the SW or whichever direction the tornado came from due to the tornado rotation. IE: NW moving tornado that clips a structure on the Northern side could push debris to the W/SW due to its cyclonic (CCW when viewed from above) rotation.

I guess what I am trying to say is that you will run the risk of debris on the shelter no mater where it is installed in relation to a structure.