Storm Shelters

Storm Shelters 

Add caption

Around the world, there are a lot of catastrophes which are very hazardous and destroy all the properties along with taking several human lives. These calamities include hurricanes, tropical storms and tornadoes. These days, there is an increasing trend of making storm shelters in order to protect people. Previously, people used to think that they can easily hide in safe rooms (which are not in direct contact with the high-speed winds) when tornadoes occur. But now, people have realized that they cannot stand the strong winds and dangerous debris, which can be very unsafe for the house. This has given rise to the storm shelter industry.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), his one of the credible agencies which sets the quality standards for making the storm shelters. They also publish the guides for people in United States, stating facts on what kind of tornadoes and storms occur in different states. And by knowing how strong and frequently the winds occur in your state, it will help you in building the storm shelters accordingly and up to code. The southern states of US are always in danger specially people living in Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Tennessee have reported the occurrence of more tornadoes and storms as compared to other states. 

If you are planning to build the storm shelter in your house, be it underground or on-ground, you are advised to follow the guidelines which are set in FEMA’s 320 plans. Secondly, always purchase the storm shelters and the material used for it from the companies which are NSSA (National Storm Shelter Association) verified. In case, you have built the storm shelter which does not conform to the above mentioned standards, the government may force you to rebuild it again, which shall cost you a lot of bucks.

Since, tornado and storm shelters are not very well secured, therefore you cannot store the emergency supplies beforehand. But you can always train your family members and prepare them for the worst situations. Appropriate food items, water supply, night torch and blankets might be some essential products which need to be placed in storm shelters. A reputable company which provides quality storm shelters is ‘Allen Construction’. They offer underground and on-ground storm shelters which are according to set standards and codes. But there are differences in the prices of both options; shelters built outside are cheaper as compared to the storm shelters built inside. 

You can have the tornado shelters built anywhere you think is convenient and appropriate. However, building them down into the basement or in the garage might not be a very good idea as it is not easy for people who are either handicapped or elder. There are many companies like ‘Allen Construction’ which offer storm shelters with all the facilities. Tornadoes, thunderstorms or strong winds, ‘Allen Construction’ shelters will provide you all the necessary security features in the storm shelters. It is customized according to your needs and desire; hence making you secure in most disastrous situations. 

Tornado Safe Rooms

According to F.E.M.A. tornado safe rooms save lives, they have been spreading that message hard and fast since 1999, and they have picked up that campaign again after the Joplin and Alabama tornadoes obliterated entire communities. That is the first point that F.E.M.A. wants everyone to understand, safe rooms equal survival, having a safe room is almost a sure guarantee that you will survive most tornadoes. If you have a tornado shelter built by F-5 shelters then you are guaranteed near absolute protection according to F.E.M.A. F-5 Shelters are built withstand wind speeds of up to 330 mph, that is well above F-5 grade wind speed, they are also built in accordance with the stringent guidelines of F.E.M.A. 320.

Funding and initiatives

There are many states that have funding and rebate programs available to help with the cost of installing a tornado safe room. Ohio, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa are all states where FEMA has rebate programs available that could get you up to 75% of your money back. Local initiatives often have a cap on the amount of money that they can be reimbursed, so the total reimbursement may not always be as high as 75%, but it will generally be much higher than 0%. F-5 Shelters works alongside many insurance companies to make sure that you aware of all the options that you have at your disposal. There are also state programs, if you live in a state that has filed for Hazard Mitigation Program Funds, you may be entitled to receive 75% of your money back. There are many ways to save on tornado safe rooms, the best thing to do is go to the F.E.M.A website and research the facts, or call F-5 Shelters and they can help you work it all out.

Practical Investment

No matter which angle you look at it from, tornado safe room is one of the best investments you can make in your home, and in your future. Aside from the obvious safety provided for your family during a tornado, safe rooms can raise the value of your home, and give you that priceless thing called peace of mind. As a property owner, or landlord, if you are going to be doing any remodeling of the home, that is the perfect time to invest and have a safe room built. Safe rooms can help with the resale value of the home in the long run, especially for homes located in tornado alley.

Multiple uses

Safety rooms or tornado shelters are not just hunks of steel or concrete that sits there uselessly until a tornado comes and then you use it for 2 minutes only to never use it again. In home safe rooms can be designed to double as walk in closets, storage rooms, even bathrooms. The designs of today are much more versatile than those nuclear bunkers of the 1950’s. If you have one of the lockable steel units sold by F-5 Shelters then you can use it as a gun safe, or as a fireproof safe to keep your valuables protected at all times. Tornado safe rooms are not just for when a tornado strikes, but even if they were, wouldn’t that be worth it?

F5 Shelters

At F5 Shelters, we use the internationally recognized Fujita scale to rate the structures that we construct. The Fujita scale is used as a way to measure the intensity of tornadoes. The intensity of a tornado is determined by the examination of damage done to man made structures and local vegetation. Meteorologists and engineers determine the grade to assign to each tornado, based not only on destruction, but ground swirl patterns left in the wake of the tornado, tracking technology, and eyewitness accounts. Motion videos are a great help to advancing current warning systems and determining what kind of force and speed the tornado was moving with. Bystanders can be a huge help in the advancement of tornado technology.

Interesting fact

The Fujita scale was initially created to go to F13, that way it could coordinate with the Mach number scale. After there was more understanding of wind speeds and it was realized that to achieve a mach 1 category, and an F12 rating, wind speed would have to be moving at 738 mph, that not being a possibility the only ratings intended for use became F0 thru F5. F6 was left as an option, but was referred to as an “inconceivable tornado”. F5 was already the rating for incredible destruction, which meant that everything was destroyed, so there was little possibility that there would ever be a use for F6. Even F5 shelters would theoretically be destroyed by F6 tornadoes, but since F6 tornadoes themselves are theoretical, and have never occurred, we have nothing to worry about. In 2007 the United switched to using the Enhanced Fujita scale which is essentially the same except the wind speed was modified.

Lower Enhanced Fujita Ratings

The working numbers of the Fujita scale are 0 thru 6. The least damaging one of course is F0. F0 tornadoes have wind speed of 65 to 85 mph and cause very light damage, and have a path of generally between 10 and 50 meters wide. Things like broken branches and light roof damage are common with F0 tornadoes. Tornadoes that carry a wind speed that is between 86 and 110 mph are classified as F1s. F1s have a much wider destructive of 30 to 150 meters. They are classified as causing moderate damage and known for doing things like blowing off shingle roofs, pushing around cars, and moving mobile homes. 73 mph is also coincidentally the beginning of what would be considered hurricane speed. F2 tornadoes create a significant amount of damage. Large trees can be broken in half, mobile homes can get demolished, and complete roofs can be torn off of homes. Wind speeds climb to 135 mph at the high end of F2 tornadoes and they can leave a path that is up to 250 meters wide. F5 Shelters will protect you from all of these threats easily.

Real Threats

F3 tornadoes are where you really start to see the type of devastation that wind can cause. Wind can get up to 165 mph with a damage path that ranges from 200 to 500 meters wide. Houses can be torn apart, large building twisted, and even heavy cars become projectiles. With wind speeds of 166 to 200 mph and a path of devastation that can be 900 meters wide, there is very little in the path of an F4 that survives in one piece. F5 tornadoes are the big boys, leaving complete and utter annihilation of everything in their 1110 meter paths. The tornadoes that hit Oklahoma were F5 and had a path of over 1 mile wide. Wind speeds are over 200 mph, 318 is where the scale stops, and nothing stands after and F5 comes through, nothing but F5 Shelters that is.

Call Now! 1-877-535-SAFE (7233)

***Due to the increase orders your tornado shelter can be constructed and installed within 3 weeks' time.***