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Old 06-08-2015, 07:41 AM
 
Location: Norman, OK
3,478 posts, read 7,233,668 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BeauCharles View Post
I have quite a few relatives in the OKC metro area. My cousin and his wife lost their new home in 1999 during the tornado (wiped it clean to the cement slab). So yeah, it can be a concern. I wouldn't live there unless I built a storm shelter in the garage.
Why the garage? I have actually struggled with this. I am moving to Norman this summer, and I looked at homes to purchase (I will end up renting first because I couldn't find a place, but anyways...). Some had storm shelters in the garage and others in the backyard.

My question - is the garage solution preferred, and if so, why? It would see to me that it would be inconvenient (have to pull out your car to get into the storm shelter) as well as more precarious (if your house is flattened by a tornado, won't the debris fall onto the storm shelter?).

I don't mean to derail this conversation too much, but I am curious as to thoughts on that.
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Old 06-08-2015, 01:41 PM
 
Location: Oroville, California
3,477 posts, read 6,475,049 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wxjay View Post
Why the garage? I have actually struggled with this. I am moving to Norman this summer, and I looked at homes to purchase (I will end up renting first because I couldn't find a place, but anyways...). Some had storm shelters in the garage and others in the backyard.

My question - is the garage solution preferred, and if so, why? It would see to me that it would be inconvenient (have to pull out your car to get into the storm shelter) as well as more precarious (if your house is flattened by a tornado, won't the debris fall onto the storm shelter?).

I don't mean to derail this conversation too much, but I am curious as to thoughts on that.
They're like a closet and built into the corner of the garage. You're car won't be in the way of getting in/out. They do it there because they have to dig down and pour cement to anchor it and the garage floor has less to get through (no flooring, no plumbing, etc...). I suppose you can have one installed inside the house, but it'd be more expensive.
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Old 06-08-2015, 01:45 PM
 
Location: Norman, OK
3,478 posts, read 7,233,668 times
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^The ones I saw are not closets. They are in-ground storm shelters on the garage floors.

e.g., http://www.groundzeroshelters.com/flattop.html
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Old 06-08-2015, 04:43 PM
 
Location: Pawnee Nation
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Trouble with storm shelters is you don't get to watch your neighbors house blow away. I mean, whats the point of living in a tornado alley home if you can't watch one hit?

FWIW Most in-floor garage storm shelters are placed where you can get in them without moving the car.
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Old 06-08-2015, 05:41 PM
 
Location: Oroville, California
3,477 posts, read 6,475,049 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wxjay View Post
^The ones I saw are not closets. They are in-ground storm shelters on the garage floors.

e.g., Underground Garage Shelters - Garage Storm Shelter - Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas & More
I see. I know some choose the above ground safe rooms because of hard pan soil under the home.
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Old 06-10-2015, 06:33 AM
 
Location: Edmond, OK
4,030 posts, read 10,727,060 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Goodpasture View Post
Trouble with storm shelters is you don't get to watch your neighbors house blow away. I mean, whats the point of living in a tornado alley home if you can't watch one hit?

FWIW Most in-floor garage storm shelters are placed where you can get in them without moving the car.
And they are registered with the city, so if your house is hit, they know to look for you in the garage. When the big one hit Moore in 2013, there were over 100 people found over night after the storm. They were in their shelters with stuff on top of them. The rescue workers were able to take the list and go house by house getting everyone out. You can get them with some kind of jack thingy that will help you open from the inside if stuff falls on top of the door. People like these because they can be installed in one day and also because you don't have to go outside in the storm to get in them. Just go to the garage.
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Old 06-10-2015, 09:38 AM
 
Location: Oroville, California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by debzkidz View Post
People like these because they can be installed in one day and also because you don't have to go outside in the storm to get in them. Just go to the garage.
When my mom was nine years old she had her arm broken in a tornado. Her teenage brother was holding on like a vise as he dragged them both to the storm cellar in the back yard (lived outside of Purcell). She was whipping around behind him like a rag doll.

Come to think of it my family has had some close calls with OK tornadoes!
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Old 06-10-2015, 04:30 PM
 
Location: Deer Creek/Edmond, OKla
664 posts, read 2,085,640 times
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A lot of the storm cellars in the garages are there because they were added AFTER the house was built and they can use a small backhoe to dig in the garage. Sometimes they can't get their equipment in the backyard as well so the only option is the garage or the owners don't want to have to go outside to get in the cellar.
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Old 06-16-2015, 08:33 AM
 
779 posts, read 922,376 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by prerunner1982 View Post
A lot of the storm cellars in the garages are there because they were added AFTER the house was built and they can use a small backhoe to dig in the garage. Sometimes they can't get their equipment in the backyard as well so the only option is the garage or the owners don't want to have to go outside to get in the cellar.
Shouldn't storm shelters always be underground? What's the point of putting one in the garage? If the garage gets blown away, won't your storm shelter get blown away as well?

What about food? When someone's house gets destroyed, does OKC have food services at the ready?
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Old 06-16-2015, 09:23 AM
 
34,254 posts, read 20,478,846 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LongNote View Post
Shouldn't storm shelters always be underground? What's the point of putting one in the garage? If the garage gets blown away, won't your storm shelter get blown away as well?

The storm shelters ARE underground, even though they are located in the garage.






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