> They would only cost a few hundred to build at time
> of construction and to my mind should be part of the building code in
> tornado alley. But you know how that goes.
I find the concept of rock making basements or shelters problematic to
be a cop out. What you have is the Walmartization of house
construction. Let's build them as inexpensively as possible and we'll
sell every one because nobody else is doing anything different.
Personally, I find it insulting and uncalled for. Yes, a building code
should be required.
Our last place was a condo which didn't have a basement, nor an
official "safe room". We rode out one really bad storm where we lost a
bunch of siding and roofing, but the structure remained intact. Then,
last year we rode out a tornado that blew a tree down on the house and
blew the garage doors in. We didn't have a chance to get to the storm
shelter (concrete bunker under the front entry) as we didn't have any
warning and the entry was in the garage. (split level house). We got
down low below the window. This place we're in now is also a
split-level (split foyer) type of house with the storm shelter
combined with the solar atrium. You could ride out an F5 in it without
too much grief, but getting to it might be a problem if you don't have
any warning because in order to get downstairs you have to go through
the glass atrium to get there. The people who lived here at the time
the tornado hit, rode it out on the floor of the upstairs hallway. But
we had no warning.
Contractors that build houses without safe-rooms should be sued for
every death and injury resulting from their lack of moral integrity.
It's criminal to build a house in which you know people will die in if
even a minor tornado hits it.
Our tornado here, last year, didn't kill anybody, but there are some
serious injuries for life. Two houses completely disintegrated
(literally nothing left but the sewer pipes sticking up out of the
ground) and the occupants were thrown a few hundred feet away.
BTW, I sat through a presentation from the hospital administrator
today, where she discussed the lessons learned from the tornado that
hit it directly. Outside appearances were deceiving, as the building
looked intact, other than broken windows. But the destruction on the
inside was massive. Also, they learned just how dangerous the hallways
can be. The winds and debris swept down the hallways shredding
everything and everybody in the way. Then there is the issue of water
damage...
Building a safe-room for a house isn't too difficult. I examined the
possibilities for our condo and would have combined it with a
darkroom. I could have built one that was capable of protecting a
family of four for about $500.
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
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