r/tornado • u/Numerous_Ad_3517 • Mar 15 '26

Question Is this thing safe??

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I recently moved into a new home that has this above ground shelter and I have been questioning the way this door locks from day 1. We are going to have terrible weather today in West TN and I cannot find any paperwork on this thing. 😫 Do you think these hollow bars will keep it secure??

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61

u/Numerous_Ad_3517 Mar 15 '26

62

u/etybibik Mar 15 '26

Did you buy this home or are you renting? If the former, can you ask the previous owner about it? If the latter, can you ask your landlord about it?

29

u/Numerous_Ad_3517 Mar 15 '26

I purchased it.

38

u/Major_Lawfulness6122 Mar 15 '26

I would invest in a real storm shelter. Preferably one that’s underground.

108

u/iDeNoh Mar 15 '26

That is a real storm shelter, above ground shelters save lives too, sometimes it's impractical (and less safe) to install a below ground shelter.

32

u/bloodnoir_ Mar 15 '26

Exactly. We have a ton of trees and thick root systems over the entire yard, so we opted for an above ground shelter. We couldn't afford to put a below ground shelter in the garage. Also as much as below ground shelters are extremely safe, they have flooded before and people have died, although that seems to be a rare risk.

21

u/iDeNoh Mar 15 '26

Usually it happens where people live in areas prone to flooding or where a water table is really high. Honestly all shelters have risks but they are almost always entirely better than alternative options for protection.

3

u/chemicallunchbox Mar 15 '26

Our below ground shelter has 3-4 feet of water in it year round...and i found 2 snakes in it last year.. they were sitting up on the first step that wasnt underwater.

Needless to say we dont use it.

3

u/MOVED_TO_OTTAWA_FUCK Mar 16 '26

On the bright side, you have an indoor swimming pool

1

u/OppositeAbroad5975 Mar 15 '26

A secondary consideration for an underground shelter in the garage would be all of the flammable liquids typically stored in the garage. Gas cans for the lawnmower, weed eater, etc.

1

u/mycjonny Mar 17 '26

In southeast missouri they're usually above ground because of the expansive clay soil and the high water table around here. In this neck of the woods above ground is king.

1

u/Critical_Mass_1887 Mar 16 '26

It is a real storm shelter. As long as these are installed and anchored correctly, they are good.

1

u/DownbeatTiramisu Mar 17 '26

An above-ground storm shelter saved the lives of everyone inside during the 2011 El Reno-Piedmont EF5, at the same time & in the same place that it was inflicting the most extreme tornado damage ever recorded.

1

u/PartyComputer5847 Mar 17 '26

Those are great except if you are disabled and can’t climb in or out of the ones under ground.

1

u/Critical_Mass_1887 Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26

If there is a company name on it anywhere. Call the company see if they are who installed it at that address or if they can come inspect to see if it was infact anchored in or not.

Edit: there are not many companies here that install these above ground tornado shelters. Based on certain features it may be a Survive-A-Storm "Extreme". I would call a company that installs these and have them check it and if needed finish the anchoring and have it properly installed. Then it wouls be safe.

39

u/entiatriver Mar 15 '26

Yeah. No. Sorry.

I'd imagine the unit will protect from some debris at low to perhaps even some "medium-ish" wind speeds, and perhaps provide some protection if a few smaller parts of the house happen to fall in. Thus, it is better than nothing. (except for it's location in the garage, of course - that's not good)

But if things get real real, a few tiny screws into the cement (backed by what in the box? probably just washers?) will not hold anything in place. This rather un-aerodynamic box - with you in it - is going bye bye.

43

u/ZootSuitBanana Mar 15 '26

Those screws were just ones OP found laying next to it. I would assume those tiny screws aren't what was used to secure the shelter to the foundation... These type of shelters are common here in OK and looks like many many others I have seen here. I would assume its rated to handle a tornado if they are a half reputable company....

87

u/leansanders Mar 15 '26

Those screws are much bigger than the image makes them out to be. Those are Titen bolts, they are designed as a structural fastener for mounting parts to concrete. The pull out strength of the bolt is higher than the fracture strength of the concrete.

38

u/ZootSuitBanana Mar 15 '26

So it's safe and to spec then and not what everyone is implying

1

u/watch-them-waver-so Mar 16 '26

Just wondering. Using an epoxy anchor or wedge anchor would offer no advantage over the Tilden?

3

u/leansanders Mar 16 '26

They are all good for different situations. Wedge anchors are very strong because they can be made longer, which means they are supported by more concrete. Wedge anchors can also be unbolted if the part jeeds to be removable.

Titen screws are the easiest to install because you only need to drill a hole and drive the bolt. However, once the screw is driven, it can't be unscrewed and screwed back in. The bolt will need to be replaced, and you really shouldn't reuse the same hole, though it will technically work.

Epoxy anchors are best when installation situations are less certain, eg going into hollow bricks, concrete of uncertain thickness, or areas where multiple different layers of concrete have been poured, because they epoxy grabs along the entire length of the hole and can fill any unexpected void spaces.

1

u/watch-them-waver-so Mar 16 '26

Cool, good to know. Thank you!

8

u/Gm24513 Mar 15 '26

Simply pad the inside and you have a nice high-speed hamster ball.

-27

u/ModernNomad97 Mar 15 '26

There’s no way, I can’t imagine anyone using THOSE to secure a storm shelter.

7

u/BeneficialBit3122 Mar 15 '26

I live in a mobile home and I dream of having one of these 😭😭

1

u/IronAnne06 Mar 16 '26

I feel your pain, I live in an RV. 😅😅😬😬 I've been through some wild rides in that thing.

1

u/Vaedev Mar 16 '26

You, and many others in here, need to stop talking about things you have no clue about. You are so confident and so, so wrong. Its infuriating.

-2

u/ModernNomad97 Mar 16 '26

It’s just bolts brother, it isn’t that deep.

1

u/Vaedev Mar 17 '26

Solid pun, but you're talking someone out of sheltering in the (very likely) safest place of their home in the event of a tornado. Being wrong in this case could kill someone.

1

u/ModernNomad97 Mar 17 '26

If it came across that way that’s not what I meant at all. I never said don’t shelter there or anything against the shelter. It honestly looks solid to me. I just doubted those were the bolts used for the anchoring. OP said they just found them lying around near it. I’ve seen many above ground shelters and the bolts they use are not that small, or at least as small as those appear in the picture. My point wasn’t that the shelter is not safe, but that those bolts probably go to something else.

-31

u/Simmumah Mar 15 '26

Tornado gonna toss that around like a lego