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.