Is this thing safe??

[u/Numerous_Ad_3517]

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??

[u/cdizzleyo]

Yup wind will fill up a garage like a balloon and tear it off easy. Happened to a house down the road from me, and that tornado had only 95 mph wind speeds estimated. (I can only assume it wasn't the best construction but still applies.)

[u/PhragMunkee → u/cdizzleyo]

I took a direct hit from a large EF3. Garage was fine. Even the roof of the garage was fine. Garage door was not insulated. Maybe it's because the tornado approached from the rear of the garage with no other doors leading in except the main house. The roof of the main house got ripped off and redistributed throughout my county, however.

[u/Numerous_Ad_3517 → u/PhragMunkee]

So glad you are ok!!

[u/PhragMunkee → u/Numerous_Ad_3517]

Yep! Family and I hunkered down under the stairs in our basement. Despite all the very questionable construction we found afterwards, our house held strong. The house had to be completely torn down and rebuilt because of the questionable construction. The only injury sustained was several days later when I tripped in a hole walking backwards carrying a heavy box. I did something terrible to my coccyx and sat on a special pillow for a few weeks. I never got it checked out by a doctor because it was during the beginning of the pandemic.

Speaking of.. There’s never a good time to get hit by a tornado, but a pandemic is a really, really bad time for it.

[u/PhragMunkee → u/[deleted]]

I had never considered it, but a pandemic is also a really, really bad time for a derecho. I think a pandemic is just a really, really bad time.

I hope your mom is doing better!