We’re Not In Kansas Anymore …
21 March 2021
It’s getting to be that time of year when Texans look to the skies when the clouds turn dark and there’s rain and hail. It’s tornado season and we just had our first brush with a storm last Saturday (3/13). Very similar to living in Louisiana when June 1st rolls around opening hurricane season– with just a lot less notice. As you can see in the map above, Amarillo is in a significant risk zone and very near the highest one. So the incidence of tornado may tend to be higher than we’re used to and something to be concerned about.
Debbie and I were at home when alerts started airing on the TV and our phones were going off. We watched the news as a few waves, with reported sightings of tornadoes, passed fairly close to where we’ll be building our new home. Less than 5 miles to the east, Palo Duro Canyon was hit causing some damage. The other tornadoes touched down in more rural areas without incident and luckily none of them resulted in loss of life. But it makes you wonder “what if” and what you would do.
As the themes of my posts have been smart home, you’re probably wondering what this has to do with the technology Debbie and I are planning for our new build. Hopefully I don’t disappoint but this one will be less “smart home” and more “smart home-owner.” I don’t mean that in a “pat yourself on the back” sort of way as much as “better safe than sorry.” But don’t worry, I’ll slip some technology in one way or another.
As we’ve been working with our architect on the floor plan for our home the topic of storm shelter has been discussed. Debbie and I like to walk homes in the different stages of construction to get ideas, evaluate potential builders and observe building techniques. One of the home we visited early in this process had a storm shelter room — at the interior of the home, constructed of cinder blocks, filled with concrete, anchored to the foundation with rebar with a rebar reinforced poured concrete ceiling. It reminded us of the Jodie Foster movie “Panic Room.” We have friends nearby who have a very similar room.
Sounds pretty safe, right? Apparently not. When we mentioned it to our architect she actually laughed and said that average to large tornadoes tend to wipe those rooms right off the foundation with the rest of the house. So I’m thinking “Wizard of Oz” kind of stuff and what do we do. The architect recommended we consider an in-ground storm shelter instead as it’s more like the movie Twister. She explained the details and it made a lot of sense.
It doesn’t take up valuable square footage in the home which is perfect for us as we’re downsizing and the space wouldn’t be used much (hopefully). They cut a hole after the foundation is poured, excavate and drop in a metal or fiberglass box below grade, usually in the garage or an indoor closet.
The shelter is registered with FEMA so if there is a tornado strike, authorities will be alerted to come dig you out from under what’s left of your house. I really like this detail but will reserve my enthusiasm after seeing how FEMA handled post-Katrina New Orleans.
A lot of the examples we’ve seen of these in-ground units have people placing them where they park their cars. Now I have no intention of using the shelter to change my oil or work on the undercarriage of our cars. And I certainly don’t want to be scrambling to move a vehicle in the middle of the night with a tornado bearing down on us. So we’ll find a convenient spot, out of the way that we can get to and access easily. After all, we’re not young anymore and there’s no telling who might be with us at the time.
I’m sure Debbie will also have some input on wall paint color and lighting for our shelter. I imagine she’ll do her best to make our stay in there comfortable as well. I’ll certainly be installing power for other things like charging cell phones and probably installing network so we can have working internet via a wifi access point. Remember, the shelter may be a steel box and in the ground — effectively a Faraday Cage — so I’m not going to necessarily rely on the household wifi for weather updates, text messages and Netflix while we wait out the storm.
Once we finalize our floor plan — which should be soon — we’ll pick the location for the shelter. That will give us dimensions to work with as we narrow down a brand and installer. I’ll keep you updated on this as well as other developments as we start into builder selection, site prep and more. And other good news — lumber prices are trending down. In case you’re unaware, due to the pandemic and other factors, the price of lumber went through the roof last year. Prior to COVID, a 2X4 cost $2.50 and now they’re running about $6.25. So we’ve started looking into alternative construction options like steel studs and cinder block. This has been another concern of ours and why we’ve taken extra time in the planning of our home. But obviously the clock is ticking as we want our home completed and moved in before the end of the year. So stay tuned as we look to finalize our floor plan soon and start the process of bidding the project and interviewing builders.
If you have questions or suggestions about future topics for “Smart Home on the Range” please let us know in the comments. As well as comments on this piece about storm shelters as we love to hear feedback. until next week …
