Pray for the families in Moore Oklahoma

[ADS]

51 confirmed dead, 20 of which are children.

[tschu]

I suppose now would be a good time to ask the neighbors if we can go to their basement if a tornado hits. We have no basement or shelter.

[EbylHusker]

It's not just how fast it forms, but also where it forms. It doesn't matter much if it spins up from nothing and drops a tornado within an hour if it's over some huge stretch of fields. But when it does that over a population center, it becomes a real problem. Radar indication of mesocyclones is usually great for warning, until the mesocyclone develops quickly and immediately spawns a tornado over a city. Nothing you can do then.

[tschu]

91 deaths now, per CNN

[Chaddyboxer]

Cripes... unbelievable destruction......

[MLB 51]

My thoughts and prayers to all the families of this tragedy.

[strigori]

Oklahoma don't have basements?

combination of ground water, poor city planning, huge boulders, and clay soil. Clay effected by shrinking, expanding or shifting soil...... depends on rain and/or temperature. And poor planning...... sewer and water lines was an average of only two or three feet deep.

They make above ground shelters. They make community shelters. It would be nice if the government would assist with stuff like this since it isn't cheap. I've even thought about installing something even with a pretty deep basement, and I live in MN where we don't have much for strong tornadoes. It's a shame that people wind up being sitting ducks like this. Even with a basement, in an F4 you're still screwed.

A lot of the community shelters (nursing homes, churches, schools, etc) want to lose that title. They claim there are huge liability issues involved if they allow anyone in. Plus experts warn against trying to drive to a community shelter during a tornado because people can lose sight of where it's at, traffic can quickly become congested causing traffic jams, and what happens if folks arrive at a community shelter to only find it full. Even safe rooms are no safe bet if faced with a tornado the size of what happened today. This was in every sense of the word, a tornado emergency where only below ground is the safest place to be.

 

The best course of action is a tornado shelter either in your garage or in the yard somewhere. Years past, the city/state would offer grants for people who want to install a shelter in their home. I suspect the state is going to come up with some more money for this program again.

Lack of basements or appropriate shelters in homes has no good excuse. Not in heavy tornado country anyway.

 

Note that some things listed as a 'tornado shelter' are hardly what I would call safe. If you are in a grocery store for instance, they will usher people back to freezers and coolers. Which are just two sheets of sheet metal, with insulation between them, and more often than not, glued to the concrete slab.

[MLB 51]

Oklahoma don't have basements?

combination of ground water, poor city planning, huge boulders, and clay soil. Clay effected by shrinking, expanding or shifting soil...... depends on rain and/or temperature. And poor planning...... sewer and water lines was an average of only two or three feet deep.

They make above ground shelters. They make community shelters. It would be nice if the government would assist with stuff like this since it isn't cheap. I've even thought about installing something even with a pretty deep basement, and I live in MN where we don't have much for strong tornadoes. It's a shame that people wind up being sitting ducks like this. Even with a basement, in an F4 you're still screwed.

A lot of the community shelters (nursing homes, churches, schools, etc) want to lose that title. They claim there are huge liability issues involved if they allow anyone in. Plus experts warn against trying to drive to a community shelter during a tornado because people can lose sight of where it's at, traffic can quickly become congested causing traffic jams, and what happens if folks arrive at a community shelter to only find it full. Even safe rooms are no safe bet if faced with a tornado the size of what happened today. This was in every sense of the word, a tornado emergency where only below ground is the safest place to be.

 

The best course of action is a tornado shelter either in your garage or in the yard somewhere. Years past, the city/state would offer grants for people who want to install a shelter in their home. I suspect the state is going to come up with some more money for this program again.

Lack of basements or appropriate shelters in homes has no good excuse. Not in heavy tornado country anyway.

 

Note that some things listed as a 'tornado shelter' are hardly what I would call safe. If you are in a grocery store for instance, they will usher people back to freezers and coolers. Which are just two sheets of sheet metal, with insulation between them, and more often than not, glued to the concrete slab.

Freezer saved quite a few people in the Joplin, Mo. tornado. I can see your point though.

[walksalone]

Just hoping they find more folks alive...

[tschu]

Not the responsibility of the grocery store to protect shoppers who leave their homes in severe weather IMO. But freezer is better than nothing.

 

Most workplaces are pretty terrible about having a good tornado plan though. Kind of surprising that there aren't some sort of building/safety codes here in tornado alley requiring underground shelters at offices, schools, workplaces, whatever.

[walksalone]

Not the responsibility of the grocery store to protect shoppers who leave their homes in severe weather IMO. But freezer is better than nothing.

 

Most workplaces are pretty terrible about having a good tornado plan though. Kind of surprising that there aren't some sort of building/safety codes here in tornado alley requiring underground shelters at offices, schools, workplaces, whatever.

 

You would think that they would have something like that in place...

 

Even in the area's with hurricanes, they have designated hurricane routes. Granted it's not exactly the same, but at least there's some sort of contingency in place...

[hskerprid]

I was in the middle of the June 3rd 1980 twisters in Grand Island. It was a very scary situation so my heart goes out to these people. It devistates your life.

[HuskerThor]

Oklahoma don't have basements?

combination of ground water, poor city planning, huge boulders, and clay soil. Clay effected by shrinking, expanding or shifting soil...... depends on rain and/or temperature. And poor planning...... sewer and water lines was an average of only two or three feet deep.

They make above ground shelters. They make community shelters. It would be nice if the government would assist with stuff like this since it isn't cheap. I've even thought about installing something even with a pretty deep basement, and I live in MN where we don't have much for strong tornadoes. It's a shame that people wind up being sitting ducks like this. Even with a basement, in an F4 you're still screwed.

This is true. My parents when they built their house in '05 put in an actually storm shelter in the basement designed for such thing. Even a basement doesnt help with a storm of this caliber.

Our house was built in '05. The people that had it built, had the ground dug out below the garage. Then they put iron beams that are sunk in 8 inches of concrete. These are put side by side and then the 4" concrete garage floor is put over that. So basically I have a bomb shelter the size of a 3 car garage. Nothing will get down there, not even an EF5. (I don't want to try and find out though). I think this is happening more and more on newer homes. It is for extra living space, but makes for a great shelter.

[HUSKER 37]

I feel kinda guilty finding entertainment in my younger years by chasing them for the adrenaline rush..Glad my cousin and his family are safe in OKC, but sending prayers to those that weren't so fortunate..

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

 

Lack of basements or appropriate shelters in homes has no good excuse. Not in heavy tornado country anyway.

 

Note that some things listed as a 'tornado shelter' are hardly what I would call safe. If you are in a grocery store for instance, they will usher people back to freezers and coolers. Which are just two sheets of sheet metal, with insulation between them, and more often than not, glued to the concrete slab.

I agree. Unfortunately, there are way more homes without a shelter than there are with. Not many people have the money to have them installed. My wife and I have one and made it clear to our neighbors to each side of us, they are more than welcome to use it even if we're not there.

 

Two years ago, the twister that crossed I-40 (near HSKRNOKC) hit a Love's truck stop. The employees ushered a bunch of folks into their large walk-in cooler just before the twister hit. It saved their lives. That particular twister was another large tornado (I believe it was an EF4) But I'm not sure a walk-in cooler would have withstood yesterday's tornado