Should mobile homes no longer be allowed in Tornado Alley?

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

@bump

Nah, in my case it’s the “Tech” part. Maybe the tornado part has a good reputation, but the school as a whole is something like 5th fiddle as far as Texas’ public universities are concerned.

Dude…Bobby Knight coached there!

[Broomstick]

@artemis

I’ve seen the signs, but I’ve not seen evidence that those areas are actually reinforced to the level required for them to be true FEMA-compliant storm shelters. They lack a concrete or steel roof (as far as I can tell), the doors are flimsy, and they don’t appear to have concrete+rebar walls. They’re safer than the rest of the store, certainly, but a powerful tornado will still convert them to rubble.

Oh, please - “as far as I can tell”, “don’t appear to” - the reality is you don’t know. Admittedly, neither do I. You certainly can have a concrete or steel roof above a drop ceiling or drywall and you’d never know it, you certainly could have concrete and rebar behind tile or more drywall. Given that 99.99% of the time that “bunker” would be used for a purpose other than a storm shelter why wouldn’t you make it look nicer than bare concrete and steel?

I suspect that some of those storm shelters are built better than others. Unless you were present during construction, though, or can somehow get behind the facade the walls and ceiling could be anything or nothing.

The other reality is that the VAST MAJORITY of tornadoes are NOT the uber-twisters and the rest room facilities will function quite adequately to shield people.

[artemis]

@Broomstick

Oh, please - “as far as I can tell”, “don’t appear to” - the reality is you don’t know. Admittedly, neither do I. You certainly can have a concrete or steel roof above a drop ceiling or drywall and you’d never know it, you certainly could have concrete and rebar behind tile or more drywall.

True. But given what I CAN see in many of these public building safe rooms (namely, flimsy doors and walls that in places appear to be stacked cement block rather than poured concrete), why should I assume that the designated “shelter” meets FEMA standards?

The other reality is that the VAST MAJORITY of tornadoes are NOT the uber-twisters and the rest room facilities will function quite adequately to shield people.

True, but it’s the powerful tornadoes people most need to shelter against. An ordinary building is adequate protection from the weak ones, with or without a safe room.

[Baker]

@monstro

Or is the only answer just to let people accept the risks and deal with the consequences?

That’s your answer.