i was just looking at the Huffington Post and the slide show of the damage done by the storms.what caught my eye was a photo of a home where not only was the building gone but a small cement block root cellar?furnace room? under the house was open to the sky and looks like it was damaged also.i have in the past suggested that some sort of shelter like that added on or built in would offer protection,i wonder about that now.

Sounds like the covering on the cellar level was not very substantial. I would think that normal flooring wouldnot stand up well to a well developed tornado.

Blast shelters do not work all that well with direct hits either.

You can make yourself less vulnerable but not invulnerable.

Short answer is, if its above grade and not heavy masonry/concrete/heavy steel, its toast in a direct hit. Even masonry needs concrete and rebar in the cells or on the outside.

A good thing to keep in mind.

It makes me wonder why people dont get diggen? I mean it may be costly to a point but you can always dig dig dig during the off season and it doesnt even have to really be a BIG BIG hole. Then ya just throw somthing in it and cover it up and BAMF shelter?

I'm looking into the ones from Cozy Caverns right now. Thinking of burying it with concrete over the top.

http://cozycaverns.com/

That Cozy Cabin looks good.

Be aware that the main exit may become blocked by debris, so consider how you may get out that air vent in an emergency (tools and a ladder).

Also consider taking tools with you so you could bash your way out the main entry (car jack, pry bars, axe, etc)

I imagine you need to site it so that flooding is not a risk either.

While I like the idea of a Cozy Cabin and it would be better than my current storm shelter setup, I'd be leery of having only one way out.

Interesting. The guy that built my house wasn't so crazy after all. We have a room in our basement that has a reinforced concrete ceiling. The only non-concrete surface is the door. I share chaosmagnet's hesitation with using this room. I guess if the house caved in right in front of the door, at least we would still be alive, albeit trapped.