by Blake Lee | Feb 25, 2015 | News
Spring is quickly approaching in Oklahoma. This means warmer weather and more daylight, but it also means storm season. This is a scary time of the year for a lot of Oklahomans and is also a really popular time when many people begin to start to formulate a weather safety plan for their family. For a lot of people, that means purchasing a storm shelter. We thought now would be a great time to try to enlighten people on things they need to know and questions they need to ask before pulling the trigger on a purchase.
Is it more safe to be underground??
Most people tend to prefer to be underground if they ever have to seek shelter from a tornado. Don’t get me wrong, being underground is extremely safe, but above ground safe rooms are statistically just as safe and are very easy to use. The Texas Tech Wind Institute in Lubbock Texas did a major investigation of all the above ground safe rooms in the direct path of the 2013 Moore tornado. They were able to determine that there were 13 registered safe rooms in the direct path of this devastating EF-5 tornado. All of the safe rooms made it through the storm unscathed and nobody inside of these shelters were injured or killed. In fact, nobody has been killed in an above ground safe room that meets or exceeds FEMA guidelines and has received a passing grade during testing at Tech’s Wind Institute. In both of our F5 showrooms in OKC and Tulsa, we have safe rooms installed just in case we get severe weather during working hours. This should tell you how much we believe in the technology.
Is an underground storm shelter in my garage more or less safe then an outdoor underground storm cellar?
Texas Tech researches say both underground garage storm shelters and above ground safe rooms installed inside your house are just as safe as any outdoor cellar. Even though they are believed to be just as safe, we tend to advise people more toward the shelters installed in the house. The reason for this is that although all three types of shelters are just as safe, that safety is achieved once you are inside the actual storm shelter. The number one cause of death during severe weather is impact from flying debri. If you have an outdoor cellar in your backyard, you have to physically leave the house and seek shelter outdoors. This leaves you extremely vulnerable to debri and the tornado it self. Storm shelters installed in the garage or inside the house offer you protection while you are seeking shelter. All our great options, but this is just what we would recommend.
Make sure the storm shelter you purchase meets FEMA guidelines and has been impact tested at Texas Tech’s Wind Institute
This seems pretty basic but since the 2013 Moore Tornado, there have been tons of storm shelter companies pop up. Many of these businesses were thrown together quickly to try and benefit from the growing storm shelter demand. Be careful when choosing a company to do business with. All storm shelters should be built and designed according to FEMA 320, FEMA 321, and ICC-500. All companies should supply you with blueprints for the shelter you wish to purchase and these blueprints needs to have an engineered seal of approval.
It is also extremely important that the storm shelter company you choose has been certified by the Texas Tech Wind Institute in Lubbock. A certified shelter is tested to make sure it meets the standards to survive a direct hit from a tornado. All impact tests are consistent with the Debris Impact Requirement of ICC-500. Above ground safe rooms leave you in dangerous territory being as that you are above ground and exposed to flying debri. You have to have a shelter that you know will hold up. Certification from Tech guarantees your family will be safe.
Do Your Research
This shouldn’t come as anything new but do research on the companies you are interested in. Again, there have been a lot of companies start up over the last two years and not all of them do good work. Look online and find reviews on google, yahoo, and facebook. Check out if they are accredited with the Better Business Bureau and what their rating is. Ask the company if they will give you any names and numbers of past customers that can vouch for your work. Don’t just take the company for their word.
We hope this helps out some of you in the decision making process. Call us if you have any other questions or concerns. We would love to help your family any way we can.
F5 Storm Shelters OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770 Stay Alive, Call F5!
Things to know before purchasing a storm shelter
by Blake Lee | Feb 13, 2015 | News
We are getting very close to storm season here in Oklahoma which means people are beginning to become more weather cautious. This is a popular time of the year for storm shelter installations and we know there are a lot of people out there that are currently shopping around. We wanted to create a list of current rebate programs that are being offered throughout the state. For people that are unaware, many rebate programs have been refunded since the Moore tornado in 2013. These rebates, many which are set up like a lottery, will help pay for your storm shelter installation. The majority will pay anywhere from $2,000 – $2,500 towards your purchase. This makes protecting your family extremely affordable.
Chickasaw Nation Storm Shelter Rebate Program:
This program provides storm shelters for privately owned homes of Chickasaw citizens.Required application is available at the Housing Administration office. An applicant can expect to find out within 10 business days if he/she qualifies to be placed on the waiting list. For citizens at large, grants will be provided for up to $2,500 for installation of storm shelters. You must be a Chickasaw resident and the storm shelter must be installed at your primary residence.
If you qualify for these guidelines, here is a link to their page for more information. https://www.chickasaw.net/Services/Storm-Shelter-Program.aspx
Sooner Safe Rebate Program
You may register for the SoonerSafe – Safe Room Rebate Program online at . Anybody in the state of Oklahoma can apply. Registering ensures you will be considered for the program, but does not guarantee that you will receive a rebate. The program will use a random selection process to select names so that everyone who registers will have an equal chance to be selected. For that reason, the order of registration does not improve the odds of being selected. A maximum rebate of $2,000 is available per home, not to exceed 75 percent of the actual cost of the safe room. Only one person may register per physical home address.
If we become aware of any other rebates, we will add them to this post and post them to our facebook and twitter. Be sure to contact us if your city is offering a rebate or if you are aware of any other programs fro storm shelter installations. We will help spread the word.
F5 Storm Shelters OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770 Stay Alive, Call F5!
F5 Storm Shelters Oklahoma
by Blake Lee | Jan 13, 2015 | Uncategorized
F5 Storm Shelters opened our Tulsa location in June of 2014. It comes up quite a bit, but many people in the city have a feeling that Tulsa is a safe haven from tornadoes because a lot of the terrain in the NE region of Oklahoma is a bit more hilly. On the flip side, Oklahoma City, is in a much more flat area of the state and this leaves it more prone to tornadic activity. Is this information accurate? Does rougher terrain make it more difficult for severe weather to form? Is Tulsa protected against tornadoes? We wanted to find out.
A little bit of research and we discovered that tornadoes have been observed on terrain as high as 12,000 ft above sea level! There is also documentation of a tornado traveling up a 3,000 ft ridge unaffected.In 1944, a violent tornado cut a continuous path at least 60 miles through heavily mountainous territory in West Virginia, killing at least 100 people. Here are just a few examples of tornadoes we found that formed in rougher terrain:
A hill known as Burnett’s Mound on the southwest end of Topeka, Kansas was purported to protect the city from tornadoes, according to an old legend. However, in 1966, an F5 tornado passed directly over the hill through downtown, killing 18 people and causing $100 million in damage.
During the Super Outbreak, violent tornadoes crossed dozens of rivers, including the Ohio, Detroit River as well as crossing over mountains and ridges hundreds of feet high.
Another example of tornadoes hitting mountainous regions of the United States is the April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak, which hit mountainous parts of East Tennessee, Northeast Alabama, Southwest Virginia and North Georgia, killing many people, including an entire family of 4 in Ringgold, Georgia.
We are still figuring out how it is tornadoes form, but we do know that they can form anywhere. No terrain feature can prevent this from happening. Tulsa, like all of Oklahoma, is at extreme risk of having a tornado touch down at anytime of the year. Statistically, since 1950, Tulsa county and Oklahoma county have experienced almost the same amount of tornadoes. However, Tulsa has not gotten the giant F5 that has devastated OKC numerous times over the last decade. OKC has reported at least 2 F5 torandoes over the last 5 years. Joplin, Missouri has gotten one. Tulsa is located almost directly in the middle of both cities. It is not a matter of ‘If Tulsa can get hit by a tornado,’ it’s a matter of ‘when will Tulsa get hit by a tornado?’ Everybody in the state needs to be prepared for severe weather. We are here to help.
F5 Storm Shelters OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770 Stay Alive, Call F5!
by Blake Lee | Dec 19, 2014 | News
We thought it would be cool to come up with a list of facts about tornadoes that most people don’t know, but probably should. Living in tornado alley, it is important to know as much as you can about these terrible twisters in order to better stay safe when they touch down.
1. Most tornadoes tend to move from the Southwest towards the Northeast. It is also possible for them to move in the opposite direction for certain periods of time if the winds from the eye of the storm are strong enough.
2. Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water. They tend to be weaker and usually occur during the late Fall or Winter seasons. If they do move on to land, they become full grown tornadoes.
3. On average. most funnel clouds last around 10 minutes. Most reported touchdowns only last a few seconds, but worst case scenario, some have been reported to be on the ground for over an hour.
4. The middle part of the country known as ‘The Great Plains’ (North Dakota down to Texas) is a breeding ground for tornadoes during the Spring and early Summer months. The flat terrain makes it easy for twisters to form.
5. Oklahoma City has been hit with more tornadoes then any other city in the United States! OKC has reported over 100 known tornado touch downs, but the numbers are thought to be much higher since documented reporting only goes back so far. OKC seems to be the bulls eye on the tornado map dart board.
6. Texas is the state with the most reported tornadoes. This is not surprising due to the massive size of the state.
7. Three out of every four tornadoes that touch down throughout the world, touch down in the United States!
8. The widest tornado ever reported and the tornado with the highest wind speeds ever reported both happened in……Oklahoma. In fact, the wind speeds reported during the Moore tornado in 1999 (302 mph) are the highest wind speeds reported on planet Earth!
9. The average time of the day to expect a tornado is between the hours of 3pm-9pm.
10. Tornadoes have occurred in every state in the United States and during every month of the calendar year.
by Blake Lee | Dec 10, 2014 | Installation Projects
Over the years, above ground safe rooms have started to become more and more popular all throughout Tornado Alley. For people who are not familiar with safe rooms, think of them as a steel closet that is bolted into your garage floor. To many Oklahomans, the thought of being above ground during a tornado could sound terrifying, but after much testing and investigation, safe rooms are statistically just as safe as being underground as long as they meet certain criteria. Nobody has been injured or killed in an above ground safe room that has received a passing grade from Texas Tech Universities Wind Institute in Lubbock, Texas. Our safe rooms passed these test and you can watch video of this on the video portion of our website. FEMA also has a set of guidelines that you must meet when building a safe room. We exceed FEMA guidelines by 50% or more throughout every aspect of construction. We use thicker steel then is required, more locking mechanisms, more ventilation cutouts, and probably most importantly, more bolts anchoring the safe room into your slab.
Like we said previously, safe rooms are becoming a lot more popular. This type of storm shelter is great for elderly couples who maybe can’t get down steps as easily or as quickly as may be required in order to seek safety inside an underground garage storm shelter or outdoor storm cellar. They are also very popular options for families with a member with a disability or in a wheel chair. Just think for a moment, if you had a child in a wheel chair home by themselves during severe weather, what would you do? An underground storm shelter could be useless in this scenario. Some people feel more claustrophobic being below ground, thus, above ground storm shelters may offer more comfortability. Safe rooms are also great because they have the abilty to be moved. If you move to a new home sometime in the future, you can take the safe room with you if you choose. One of the big drawbacks we hear when discussing safe room options is that many people fear they will lose too much space in their garage. For this concern, there is an easy solution, bolt together safe rooms.
Our bolt together above ground safe rooms are great because they allow people that are in an existing home to install their safe room inside of the house. A lot of companies only build pre fabricated safe rooms, meaning, they are already built when they show up for install. These type of safe rooms offer limited options on where they can be installed. It’s pretty much either inside of your garage or maybe a backyard patio. Bolt together safe rooms come in panels that our installers will put together at your house. The installation is easy and is a one day job. We can put these anywhere inside your home so that you don’t lose any space inside the garage. Most people usually elect to install them inside of a closet or spare bedroom. If you have any other questions or want more information, call one of our showrooms in either Oklahoma City or Tulsa. We have sales reps that would be more then happy to assist you!
F5 Storm Shelters OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770 Stay Alive, Call F5!
Inside of a bolt together above ground safe room
This is what our bolt together above ground safe rooms look like from the outside. They are just as safe as being underground.
