Why Aren't There More Storm Cellars in Oklahoma? (The Atlantic covers the reasons why)

[The Straight Story]

There are thousands of shelters in Oklahoma -- to the extent, Tanner told me, that the state "has been the most active shelter state, probably, within the United States." Yesterday, however, that wasn't enough. The storm was deadly in part because there were so few places -- underground places -- for people to escape to. As Weather Nation's Paul Douglas noted last night, fewer than one in 10 Oklahomans have access to the basements that stand the best chance of keeping them safe when a "monster" -- another appropriately awful euphemism -- strikes.

So why weren't there more underground shelters for people to escape to yesterday? Why aren't houses in the vast stretch of prairie known as Tornado Alley routinely equipped with storm cellars?

There are, unsurprisingly, several reasons. But what they come down to is this: Yesterday's tornado was deadly, ultimately, not just because of the vagaries of the sky. It was deadly, too, because of the fickleness of the ground.

Ground That's Made of Clay
The relative dearth of storm cellars in Oklahoma may be partially attributed, as things so often can, to environmental factors. The soil in the state is composed largely of clay -- and that's particularly true in central Oklahoma, where Moore is located. ("Soils in the Central Rolling Red Prairies," geologists at Oklahoma State put it (pdf), "are dark and loamy with clayey to loamy subsoils developed on Permian shales, mudstones, sandstones and/or alluvial deposits under tall grasses.&quot

...

'Bill Gates's Wealth'
There's an obvious corollary to these challenges. If you're going to attempt to build a steel-reinforced shelter -- the only kind that, despite its drawbacks, would stand a good chance of keeping you safe during a storm of yesterday's magnitude -- it's going to be expensive. Underground shelters cost thousands of dollars, at minimum, and many of them much more than that. Which are not sums that many families, especially given the current economic conditions, have at their disposal. As Paul Douglas summed it up: For most people, "it's cost-prohibitive to dig basements."

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/why-arent-there-more-storm-cellars-in-oklahoma/276073/

[tblue]

1. Like lifeboats on Titanic

there has to be room for everyone or you are out of compliance. The government has to take the lead on providing people with access to shelters, either subsidize building them or build lots of huge ones, especially for children at school. I can't wrap my brain around it. I don't blame the people. I blame the political leaders.

[wercal]

3. The federal governemnt used to fund Storm Safe Communities

Which subsidized individual shelters.

Our new high school gym got a $100k grant from FEMA to make a shelter out of it.

Things are being done - but its gradual.

[wercal]

2. Somebody on another thread had straightforward approach to this

Those that don't want a shelter, will rationalize why they can't do it.

Those that do want a shelter, will figure out how to do it.

The real story is that frost is relatively shallow, so footings only have to go down 24"-30"...so a basement would be a large extra expense. But you go to Minnesota, with 8 ft frost, adding a basement is a no brainer, since the footings have already formed the walls.

So, historically, not alot of basements have gone in.

But they could. There is nothing magically terrible about their soil. Or above ground safe rooms can be built. Its all possible; and, I predict alot of these very houses that were destroyed will be rebuilt with a basement.

[SoCalDem]

4. waves hand in the air, and says "me"

Here's a " target="_blank">you tube showing how to do it




http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022880393

A viable underground shelter need not be a "traditional" basement


Anything underground can save your life.

They are not that complicated, and they surely save lives.

I am from Kansas, so I know a bit about tornadoes.. Our house was hit in 1968 .. (3 came thru between 1 AM to 3 AM)

You go below ground and you wait.. even if it's hot & sticky & there are spiders & bugs..or if it's a muddy dirt floor and there are no lights..and the kids are crying & the cat is yowling & the dog is whining & panting like a maniac..


if you value life, you have a BELOW ground shelter of some kind.. It's not a place you regularly hang out in,, you may never use it, and when you do, you may only be in the place for less than an hour...a wise use of your time.


Maybe you'll never use it, and it just sits there "mocking you" for "wasting" that money
simple:





interesting




modern




variations

[wercal]

5. A co-worker went through the 1966 Topeka tornado

She was very young, but she remembers her father. The house was not damaged, but he was rattled by the destruction he saw all around him.

So, he took a sledgehammer to his garage floor, and over a period of weeks, hand dug a hole in the middle of the garage, for a shelter.

He found a way.

[Logical]

6. About 80 people die a year from tornados. The chances of any single home being destroyed in....

a tornado is extremely small. Even over a lifetime.

Like any risk, you have to decide if the risk is worth the cost.

[1KansasDem]

7. After reading numerous threads about the lack of

basements and shelter's in Oklahoma in the last 24 hrs, this Atlantic piece really does explain it.
Central Oklahoma is probably the worst place in the U.S. to build and maintain either.