Question for those who live in tornado areas

[bobby]

so i hear a lot of people hid in there rooms or closets   when  tornadoes hit 

  dont home have sealers any more 

[bobby]

Question for those who live in tornadoes areas

[normadenardo]

Not all homes have cellars or basements. I live in my ohio and the home i have now has no basement. Most mobile homes (manufactured homes) do not have them. I don't know of any homes in florida that have them. Too close to sea level and they would flood. They do have tornadoes in both of those areas.

[bobby]

oh so it about cost, i was thinking it was a law to have one 

[PrairieGirl]

there's lots of reasons. Cost is one... another is our water basin is high where I live. IE if you dig a hole deep enough for a cellar/basement it will just fill up with water and you will have a lake not a basement. Also why we have a lot of "lakes" if you want a lake or a pond in your yard, literally you can dig your own! And a lot of people do! lol  

 

A third reason is, the kind of dirt. Much of the dirt in our area is Clay, which when it is wet it will expand, and when it is dry it will get smaller... this is also not good on a basement/cellar, it will cause cracks in your basement/cellar, and then leaks, mildew/mold, and deterioration of the foundation, where eventually the home will fall down. What isn't clay, is sand... ie remember what the Bible says about building a house on sand, well you can here, but on stilts cause the stilts will move with the sand... and keep the house correct, but doesn't work for/with a basement. 

Edited December 28, 2015 by PrairieGirl

[Qapla]

There is no law that says one MUST have a basement.

 

Here in Florida it is not so much about cost as much as it is about practicality. Even if someone can afford the tremendous cost of building a cellar/basement in our soil, having the money will not stop the water from inundating the foundation - eventually.

 

In most areas of this state the size of the hole that would have to be dug so that a basement could be built would far exceed the boundaries of the property line during the build so as to keep the hole from caving in.

 

Then, even if you did manage it, the water line would prevent the room from ever being truly watertight. (like was mentioned above)

 

So, it is just not practical to build basements in most houses here

[boodles]

When we lived in Alabama, the mobile home we rented had a storm shelter made of blocks, all above ground, in the garage. It might not have held up against a very strong tornado, but would be better than nothing for most tornadoes.

 

Many people really have no place to go because many houses and apartments and trailers do not have any type of shelter. And if they do, sometimes people don't take advantage of their storm shelters because they don't think a tornado is actually going to hit, because many times there are watches and warnings that can last for hours, but no tornado actually touches ground. Many shelters, for example if a trailer park has a shelter, are not close to the house, so people don't use them.

[shali]

I live in a "slab" home - the home is literally built on a slab of cement (no basement or crawl space). So if a tornado hits our area we are told to go to the innermost safest area of our home, or a room with something really heavy you can crawl under for protection (like a piano). In our home, my husband says my bathroom is the best place for me to go and crawl into the tub or go to the utility closet (where the washer and dryer are) behind the garage. For people like me, if you are in a tornado's path - it would almost be an act of God if you survive. I try not to think about it much.