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It seems to me the difference between Hurricane and Tornado is water. In the Midwest we get wet basements, cropland that floods and rivers that overflow, but I've never seen a flood in the Midwest like Katrina brought New Orleans. ........
Maybe you missed the great flood of 1993? That was a 4 month long flooding event of 300-500 year proportions.
http://www.fema.gov/business/nfip/voices.shtm (broken link) Yes, we get water in the Midwest!
The Ozarks have a whole lot of limestone just barely below the surface of the soil. This is one of the reasons most of the crop farming In Missouri takes place in the upper 2/3rds of the state. I cannot say for certain but I believe it is this very geology that keeps many areas of the Ozarks from having basements. So, the underground house suggestions by some posters are completely unrealistic for many parts of the country be it due to shallow stone or a high water table.
There is a way to build a tornado proof home that wont cost you an arm and a leg a pumice crete home is the best way to do it you can pour your wall, floors between 1st and 2nd floor, and your roof out of the stuff and when you pour it as a single unit in a post and beam and rebar method it will never come apart it is the strongest most affordable building method there is.
Thanks Ray
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 10-06-2011 at 03:41 PM..
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Tornado Resistant Buildings can be built and cost no more than traditional buildings of equal finish. FEMA has determined that thin-shell concrete buildings engineered like Monolithic Domes provide “almost absolute protection from natural or manmade disasters.” See ABC Domes - http://abcdomes.com . Also see: http://youtu.be/St4umWJttYk . Explore http://monolithic.com . I've studied these for years, and I have interviewed owners of Monolithic Domes; School buildings, Church buildings, and Homes.
I went an looked at the one in the Adirondacks.
Fairly inexpensive (and includes your own private runway).
Built for an Atlas F.
Nice above-ground house, with a tunnel leading to the launch control room, nicely finished. The door leading to the LCR can take a 2000lb blast
The usually use either the LCR or the communications center as the underground home (some of these are big, say 8700 ft"2).
Wouldn't be too worried about F5's (or 100KT air-burst).
I would think a reinforced concrete dome with nice thick acrylic windows would do the trick. You would want the acrylic coated to make it harder to scratch. If you made a window with a polycarbonate acrylic sandwich it could stop just about anything. I know some of the big aquariums use something like 6" acrylic walls.
I would love to build a concrete home, living here in tornado alley. I know some people that have them. Not only would they keep you more safe, but they are also very energy efficient, quite and they look just like any other house in the neighborhood. When I first heard about them, I thought they would just be ugly concrete blobs. I didn't realize they bricked over the concrete on the outside so they look nice.
I just bought a dome home on 6 acres of lakefront property in SW MO. Can't wait to retire there in 6/14. Until then it will be a vacation home.
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Tornado Resistant Buildings
