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It appears as if 2011 will go down in the history books as one of the worst years in recorded history for tornadoes and tornado related fatalities...a pretty grim and unnerving accomplishment. Indeed, one can't help but to wince when confronted with this year's horrifying statistics: more that 1300 tornadoes so far this year when the annual average hovers around 1200, and we still have 7 months to go; with Joplin numbers still mounting, this year has already topped 500 fatalities, and according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, 2011 currently ranks as the seventh worst year for tornado deaths since record keeping began; and finally, 2011 set a new record for the month of April, with a whopping 875 recorded tornadoes ripping throughout the mid-western states in one month!
As we watch the coverage of the aftermath of the Joplin tornado and some of the chilling videos that have been published on the Internet, one can't help but to be completely awed, and terrified by the power of nature. How do you hide from a category F5 tornado with a base over a mile wide and wind speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour? Is it even possible to hide from a freak of nature that literally rips houses of their foundations and, according the the Fujita Scale description, "...carries houses considerable distances to disintegrate; automobile sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 meters; trees debarked; steel re-enforced concrete structures badly damaged"?? While there may be no place like home Dorothy...most homes are not built to withstand the unbelievable onslaught of a category 5 blow, and as this year's ugly stats demonstrate, these twisters are making a deadly comeback. So where do we hide?
Enter Jarrell Storm Shelters.
Some of you may remember Jarrell, Texas. In 1997, the small town of Jarrell experienced an F5 tornado that literally wiped one of its subdivisions off the map, every single home was destroyed and 29 people lost their lives. It was a deadly wake up call to many Texans, and many lives were lost in the process. But one small business has decided to make a difference. Jarrell Storm shelters, based in Jarrell, Texas, has learned from their hard experience and is giving people peace of mind in these uncertain times, and according to Adam Richter, business is booming. "We are putting in a shelter a day, sometimes more," Adam notes.
In an effort to show our customers just what is involved in building a storm shelter that can withstand the pressures of an F5 tornado, (and to give them a life-saving alternative to hiding in a closet or bathtub with pillows over their heads), SurvivalOutpost.com hired Jarrell Storm Shelters to install a 6-by-8 foot, steel reinforced, in-ground shelter, one that is rated by the Texas Tech University Wind Science and Engineering Research Center to withstand a category 5 twister.
Whatever notion you may have about the complexities of installing a storm shelter, it is likely that you are wrong. In 3 and a half hours, Adam and his crew had completely installed the shelter, buried 5.5 feet underground and covered with earthen berms to channel the wind over the top of the structure. Total cost -- $3300.00. And while this may seem expensive to some of you, given the grim statistics of this year's tornado activity, it may well be the best money you ever spent. According to Adam, there are numerous alternatives to make the financial burden less onerous too. In fact, many communities are creating cooperatives to share the expense over several households, and building storm shelters to protect several families. Even home owner's associations (and according to Adam, some developers) are getting with the program by building community in-ground concrete structures as places of refuge to escape the wrath of our increasingly tempestuous Mother Nature.
Bottom line: in today's uncertain world, perhaps the time has come to think differently about Storm Insurance and look for opportunities that are outside the underwriter's office, and in the ground out back.
For more information on Jarrell Storm Shelters, see Storm Shelters.
Be safe.
