Tornado Shelter

dwain

dwain

Joined
May 19, 2002
Messages
484
I thought I would share with you, the work I have done to make a tornado shelter. Next to my house, there is an old cistern. It is still in very good shape. It is circular, 9' across, and is 11' deep. When I started, it was full of water to the top, which I had to pump out. It is made of 2 courses of brick and glazed with a mortar cement slurry. The top arches up to form a dome at the top. I put about 30" of pea gravel in the bottom and put in a sump pump. I then poured a concrete floor about 8" thick. I pulled the original top off which was about a 6' square and formed up a for a concrete top. The new top is about a 6' square also but has an opening in it and has steel poured into it to build the hinges for the door onto. The concrete for the new top is 23" thick. I built the door out of rough sawn, oak, full, 2"x6" boards and laminated that with a 1/4" thick steel plate. I welded hooks for a chain inside the opening for the door and have 2 chains fastened to the door to fasten shut. I have a counter weight on a cable to assist opening the door as it is pretty heavy. My wife can open it. I built a ladder type stair to get into it. For air circulation I poured 2- 4" pvc pipes into the concrete, and ran one almost to the bottom, and the other one is short, just inside the top. There is natural air circulation with this setup. I have a handcrank blower off a forge to put on one of the pipes sometime to crank in some fresh air if we have a full house down there. For power, I ran a heavy cord in from our crawl space. We have one light down there plus the sump pump. We take our battery powered weather radio, a few flashlights, and shut ourselves in. The sump pump may run once a week, so flooding is not a problem. I put a whistle down there in case we get trapped in by a tree or other debris, like the house, I can blow into the short air pipe for help. I built 3 benches about 5' long to sit on. I scrounged up a few old hardhats, to wear just in case. Most storm related injuries are to the head. A few people in town and other parts of the county are aware of this shelter, to check on us if the SHTF out here. Some people have suggested we keep MREs and all types of stuff in there, but it is not a long term stay, just an hour or two at the most as the weather service is so good at following these storms and posting warnings. We had 10 people in there once during construction, and it could hold more. Let me know what you think on this setup
 
Interesting. Should work great. You have a way to lock or latch the lid from inside?

Hope it doesn't fill up with water. :)
 
Looks like a more than adequate tornado shelter. Nice job on the details such as ventilation concerns and safety with the hard hats. MRE's and water would not be a bad idea, on the off chance that you would become trapped in there for more than a few hours. Heck, a 5 gallon bucket or 2 could hold all the supplies you would need for a short stay. Plus the buckets could come in handy for a toilet if the need arose. Does the weather radio get good reception down there? -Matt-
 
Yes, the weather radio, (Midland, Public Alert) comes in fine down there. Tried my son's cell phone, and we did not get any reception. May have to rethink my thoughts about the bucket idea.
 
DH1 said:
..or have a tree fall on the hatch.
Click to expand...

I wish there were a suggestion that I could think of in this case where someone would know where to find you. Hopefully more of the guys here will come up with something. -Matt-
 
I have a network of about 8 people from other areas of the county and in town that know to come and check on us. A tornado usually cuts a swath and will not disrupt an entire area this large. The shelter will not fill up with water, as in a 4" or 5" rain, it stays dry.
 
I would add a hand-powered water pump. If you do get a tornado in the area, the power will be out. And, if a tree lands on top, AND (I know, a lot of and's) it's raining hard... Or, you could make it so no trees could kand on your shelter. (Or make something to brace them if they do come down, so your door will still open.)

Cool idea. I'd love to have the extra money to put something like that in, especially here in Missouri.
 
I wonder if a highlift jack and a couple of 2X4's cut to reach from the floor to the center of the hatch would be useful to get the door open if there was something laying across the top.
 
Dwain, that sounds bomb-proof, good work. My only question is, if the tornado rips off your house, are you going to be living in that cistern for awhile? But I'm sure you have friends homes to go to.
 
It's a life saver, for sure. With a proper air filter it is even anti-nuke shelter!

Would be a great root cellar, wine cellar, a few cases of water and provisions and you would be set. Blankets and some sweat shirts, Vacuum sealed for storage and that place would be the "Cat's Ass".

For the toilet I'd save up for one of the portable camping/chemical models, they hold 10 or 20 gallons, have an air trap to keep odors down. Might be the difference between somewhat "unpleasant" surroundings, and ability to last 24 or even 48 hours.

Or, could you dig a pit, in the floor?? Or would that allow ground water infiltration?

Overall VERY VERY good work! Using an existing structure like that, nice.:thumbup:
 
Grim/Don said:
Or, you could make it so no trees could kand on your shelter. (Or make something to brace them if they do come down, so your door will still open.)
Click to expand...

Good idea..like a welded frame type thing that allows clearance for the hatch to open in case something lands on it...even cars can get tossed on top in a tornado.
 
I took my wife's cell phone down there this morning and had 4 bars. I made a call from down there, and it went through fine, with the hatch down. I do realize that during or after a tornado, cell phone towers may be down. Water filling this shelter up is not going to be a problem, as it is dry.
 
great shelter dwain-of course being up here in maine we don't get a whole lot of tornados-i hope you never need it:D -and btw even if your phone isn't getting reception,it can still be used to triangulate your position if it is turned on:thumbup:
 
Guess you could also lock your wife in there if she ever misbehaves............LOL...Kinda like an adult "Time Out"
 
Did you put any screening on the intake and exhaust to keep the critters from takeing up residence? Really nice work:thumbup:
 
Yes, I put some black cloth screen material, fastened with zip ties, to keep the bugs out. It works well, as in the two summers I have had the shelter, I have only had a couple spiders in there.
 
Would a couple of chisels, and a couple of small 3 lb sledge hammers be enough to poke an exit hole in the wall if you ever needed to?
 
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