Storm shelters

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We don't get many of them in this area like they do further west, but most everybody has their designated "scaredy hole" just in case

dun
 
Yes the ranch is only about sixty miles inland. We fled from Alica in 83 to the farm lost a car from falling trees. House in Texas City had a lot of cosmetic damage. Its bad on the coast, but inland is bad for tornados and flooding.
 
Hello

We don't have a storm shelter and I don't know of any of the neighbors that do either. I only place I have seen one was when my grandparents lived in Oklahoma, a lot of the people up there have them.
 
We have one that was built in 1917 according to the date written in the concrete. I've often thought of how much work that must have been because it's awful rocky where they built.

I keep some lawn chairs down there. Also some blankets, a couple of coal oil lamps and a radio. I've killed a rattle snake in it so the most important thing in the cellar is a hoe that I leave leaning on the steps ready to grab on the way down. Every now and then we have to hustle out there in the middle of the night. When tornadoes are in the area Mr. Rattler is going to have to fight me for that cellar.

We're far enough from the coast to love the rain that hurricanes bring. The downside is the twisters they always throw off.

Craig-TX
 
We don't build storm shelters. We let the cattle hide in the brush. There is not much you can build that mother nature can't destroy in the blink of an eye.
 
txshowmom":1kebtc7t said:
We don't build storm shelters. We let the cattle hide in the brush. There is not much you can build that mother nature can't destroy in the blink of an eye.

Agree. Think there was a large tornado in the Waco(?) area a few years back that sucked up asphalt pavement, etc...

We don't have shelter either. EXtremely expensive for slight probability of one getting to your specific place. Also, any shelters need to be water and varmit tight...and, what if something huge lands on top of your entrance door and you have no phone down there that will work and there you are! Buried alive! ... Until someone just happens to discover you are missing... duh...
 
Running Arrow Bill":3p471sh0 said:
txshowmom":3p471sh0 said:
We don't build storm shelters. We let the cattle hide in the brush. There is not much you can build that mother nature can't destroy in the blink of an eye.

Agree. Think there was a large tornado in the Waco(?) area a few years back that sucked up asphalt pavement, etc...

We don't have shelter either. EXtremely expensive for slight probability of one getting to your specific place. Also, any shelters need to be water and varmit tight...and, what if something huge lands on top of your entrance door and you have no phone down there that will work and there you are! Buried alive! ... Until someone just happens to discover you are missing... duh...

Are you two saying you wouldn't be proud to jump in one if you had a cyclone bearing down on you? Didn't think so. Same concept as insurance. You spend the time/money and hope you never need it.

Craig-TX
 
We don't build storm shelters. We let the cattle hide in the brush. There is not much you can build that mother nature can't destroy in the blink of an eye.
Are you two saying you wouldn't be proud to jump in one if you had a cyclone bearing down on you? Didn't think so. Same concept as insurance. You spend the time/money and hope you never need it.

I didn't say I don't want a shelter for myself. I said we don't build shelter for the cattle. We use they brush as shelter for the cattle.
 
txshowmom":1yp97duv said:
I didn't say I don't want a shelter for myself. I said we don't build shelter for the cattle. We use they brush as shelter for the cattle.
I agree with Showmom on this one. We don't build any for the cattle, either. They'll just have to tough it out and drift unless PETA has some kind of grant money available.
 
Texan":1o0tdbbc said:
txshowmom":1o0tdbbc said:
I didn't say I don't want a shelter for myself. I said we don't build shelter for the cattle. We use they brush as shelter for the cattle.
I agree with Showmom on this one. We don't build any for the cattle, either. They'll just have to tough it out and drift unless PETA has some kind of grant money available.

Piney woods best shelter there is for cows, always clean and there is a warm. dry and cool side.
 
Wasn't talking about protecting cattle. I was looking at some shelters that are buried in the ground. Figure since I'm building a house might as well have the entrance to one of them buggers right there in my garage floor. Wouldn't have to worry about critters and you buy a 4-6 ton post jack and you'll be able to get the water tight hatch open. They are buried in concrete and it would have to be one awful big twister to suck that puppy out of the ground. And my familys life is worth the price of what if.
 
I just do not understand why people in areas that are hit by bad storms don't have storm shelters. Maybe living most of my life in "Tornado Alley" has colored my thinking (I'm 8 miles from the town that was blown away by a tornado last spring), but I have never in my adult life lived anywhere that didn't have some sort of a storm shelter.

We recently bought property southern Florida, we plan on moving in April. The very first thing we plan to do is put in a storm shelter. If it never has to be used, that would be just wonderful. But I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

I know most people evacuate, hurricanes do at least give some warning, but what bothers me is the animals. If you evacuate and leave your animals behind, what if you're not allowed back into the area in a timely fashion? Wouldn't it be feasible for the animals to survive the storm and then die from lack of care afterwards? Or to sustain a minor injury during the storm and die from complications from not being treated in a timely fashion?

Ann B

Mahoney Pursley Ranch":39wimqgy said:
Wasn't talking about protecting cattle. I was looking at some shelters that are buried in the ground. Figure since I'm building a house might as well have the entrance to one of them buggers right there in my garage floor. Wouldn't have to worry about critters and you buy a 4-6 ton post jack and you'll be able to get the water tight hatch open. They are buried in concrete and it would have to be one awful big twister to suck that puppy out of the ground. And my familys life is worth the price of what if.
 
Don't get me wrong, I love my cattle but you need to remember THEY ARE ANIMALS NOT HUMANS.
 
For the closed up animals we just opened gates, cut fences and got the
---- out of there

dun
 
I guess we're all saying the same thing. I've never heard of anybody building storm shelters for cattle. A tornado can take out just about anything a private person might build above ground. But it can't touch a cellar. For livestock the woods and brakes in the bottoms provide a lot more shelter from northers than most people think but of course they're no match for a tornado.

The twister that Bill mentioned was in Jarrell on I-35. It was a small community that took a direct hit in the late 90s. I think that storm killed about 30 people. I drove through a few days afterwards, there was basically nothing left of the community. Just roads, driveways, foundations and tree stumps. Houses and cars were gone. There were a few spots where it looked like the pavement had been stripped down to the road bed. But if any of them would have had cellars they would have lived.

Craig-TX
 
Agree. But you have to look at statistics. A tornado can happen anywhere but the probability of it happening in some places is greater than others. I wouldn't go out and buy a snow plow "just in case" becaues the likelyhood of it snowing where I live is slim to none. A tornado can happen where I live but its not likely, so therefor I am not going to build a storm shelter in case of a possible tornado. Now if I lives in tornado ally yes I would definatley build one. People need to look at where they live and prpare for the conditions they are likely to come in contact wuth.
 

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