[BC] Safe rooms in houses

[DHultsman5@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/20/2007 3:42:44 PM Central Daylight Time, 
wbzq1300 at verizon.net writes:

On "Extreme Makover - Home Edition" last night, they showed a steel 
> box to
> protect the family from tornados, but I thought -- that's great, but 
> how are
> they going to get any radio or TV reception in there?  Did they run a 
> cable
> to the outside world?
 
Several areas in the SOuth in new developments are building "Safe Rooms".  In 
a development near my home they actually have a safe room 20 x 20 with a 8 
inch reinforced concrete ceiling, which is their garage floor. The walls are 
reinforced concrete blocks below grade exterior, filled with concrete and 
concrete block on the basement side filled with concrete.  The room has two steel 
doors one opening inward the other outward into the basement. It also has 
ventilation pipes to the outside.  It is design the support the entire two story 
house collapsed on top of it.
 
You can also find design print of how to make one in a basement or corder of 
a garage on the NOAA web site in the tornado area.
 
In my travels on the hiways and byways of the South,  I need to start 
photographyng the old storm cellars I see regularly.   Also there are some new ones 
being built.  Here in Alabama when ever a tirnado forms, it immeditely zeros in 
on the closest trailer park.  Masny trailer owners have one of the round 
concrete below ground shelters right outside their front steps.  Also I note an ad 
at a home show for a company that specialized in installing these concrete 
bunkers below trailers.
 
Dave




************************************** AOL now offers free email to everyone. 
 Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.