Tornado prepping in Midwest
Posted by Rancid_Triceratops@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 22 comments
Hello!
I’m in Ohio and we’re projected to get some nasty storms capable of producing tornados tonight. The layout of my house is very weird and not very conducive to tornado season.
I have a three level split home with the partially underground level being a fully finished living room, bedroom, and bathroom/utility room. Not a single room has no doors or windows.
Option 1: The bedroom has a very tiny indent of a closet with cheap flimsy sliding doors…it could fit maybe 1 person and 1 dog but I’ve got myself and two dogs and a cat (and a husband when he’s home). The room itself has a door to the outside (although I don’t think the window in that door is glass).
Option 2: the bathroom/utility room has a window. There again isn’t really much space for more than 1 person but maybe if I backed up enough between the hvac and water heater I might be far enough from the window…
Option 3: we have a very big crawlspace with no windows. This option would fit everyone including all animals. Problem is, this is where the foundation of the house sits and I’d think if the house caved in we’d be right under the heaviest part of the house.
Thoughts? The first level has no rooms without big windows or internal closets, and the second floor has a hallway without windows but I’d think somewhere down on the bottom level is still a safer bet…
IlliniWarrior6@reddit
crawlspace by a huge margin - tornadoes aren't earthquakes - homes are torn away by the cyclonic wind shear - they don't collapse into the sub-bases >>> in the worse case your crawlspace could be exposed - but that is highly unlikely with an adequately built home ......
if you have an earth based crawlspace - you could increase the safety and comfort by increasing the depth around the entrance area .....
in regard to your pets - don't get yourself killed over any of them - if the weather dictates a possible "take cover" - secure them in advance - put them into the shelter area if possible >>> don't leave yourself vulnerable trying to find or move a pet with a tornado bearing down on you .......
Undeaded1@reddit
I agree that crawlspace is the safest place for tornados. When traveling on highways, they recommend a ditch on the side of the road over sitting in your car as the wind lifting or "sheering" you from the flat land is what is dangerous. So a crawlspace beneath layers of buildings g is safer for THAT situation.
SunLillyFairy@reddit
It's hard to answer you without knowing which one of those rooms is more underground and what they are surrounded by. I'd go to the lowest level in the house, the partially underground level. The subfloor is tricky, because while it MAY be the safest, even if things don't fall on you, it's easy to get trapped down there. I wouldn't go down there in a storm Unless it had a reinforced cement ceiling that could bear weight from above and an exterior exit that opened inwards... and unless it was built for storm protection it likely does not.
Rancid_Triceratops@reddit (OP)
I have a three level split home. The lowest level of the house is partially underground, however doesn’t have any interior closets and each room on the level has windows or a door. It’s all a full living area—living room, a bedroom with a flimsy excuse of a closet that just has hanging sliding doors (this is the room that has a door to the backyard), and then a laundry room/utility room/bathroom (no tub, yes there is a window in this room too). The crawlspace is not well reinforced
SunLillyFairy@reddit
I think if I lived there, if there was room, I'd consider adding a tornado safe room to that first floor. It could double as an office or guest room. There are some great plans published by the US Foresty for a tornado shelter built with wood walls, tested to meet FEMA standards. If your subfloor is under your whole home (none of it on a cement slab), it would require a little more engineering. You could also install (or have installed) something like this.
It won't help you tonight, but might provide some peace of mind for future storms. Unfortunately, with the increasing weather extremes, you're likely to see more of the same in the future.
Rancid_Triceratops@reddit (OP)
Luckily no tornado warning last night but yeah we’re looking into new homes anyways because we’re starting a family and one of our requirements is a basement so this is never a problem again. When we bought the house tornado warnings were more like a once or twice a year thing here in Ohio, so we didn’t even factor it into being much of an issue at the time
Many-Health-1673@reddit
I live in tornado alley, and if you have advance notice of a tornado that is within a few miles the best thing to do is not be in it.
This is not recommended by professionals, but if there isn't heavy rain get in your car and go the opposite way and away the storm. You need to do this BEFORE the weather gets really bad.
I have avoided two tornadoes in the last 10 years doing this. One passed 100 yards from our house and the other was about 1/4 mile. I avoided both of these tornadoes by leaving and going the opposite way 15 - 20 minutes before the tornado got there and avoided the disaster that followed.
You have to be very prepared by watching the weather meteorologist on where the tornado is and its projected path and be organized to use this method, but it works better than being in a tornado.
Rancid_Triceratops@reddit (OP)
Unfortunately the storm coming in that is supposed to be decent breeding ground for tornados is supposed to happen in the middle of the night 🥲
Many-Health-1673@reddit
It seems that most tornadoes happen after dark or just at dark. I suppose it has something to do with the energy buildup due to the heat of the daytime.
Shay081214@reddit
Make sure to follow this advice if you want to die, OP
HRslammR@reddit
The partially underground portion is your best bet. Otherwise the most centrally located part of your house away from windows is next best. After that a bathroom and a mattress over you are last resorts.
But to be honest unless you hear the train noise or in confirmed path of tornaders, you'll be fine. A tornado is like a scalpel on the land, it'll cut a very narrow path (unless it's a big one) but the buildings sometimes next to yours sre fine.
Remember, a taco (tornado) watch is the ingredients to make a taco, but a warning means the tacos are ready.
Source: native north texan who deals with this every spring.
Rancid_Triceratops@reddit (OP)
Yeah I know if the watch vs warning—I don’t bother to leave my bed unless there is a warning
cjenkins14@reddit
From tornado country here- in all fairness unless youre getting some of the freak weather like central oklahoma got last year with 17 something tornados in one night, your chances are pretty fair of being fine. The actual path of damage that an F1-2 does isn't much wider than a large bulldozer, and most only stay on the ground for a couple miles.
That being said, if you can't get under the house, stay on the base level. Worst case scenario, it takes the upper two floors and you'll still be sitting in the bathtub. Bathtub/tiled showers and interior closets on ground level are the safest. We recently had a tornado a few miles away hit a mobile home park and the few houses that got hit directly still had their whole floor, and the tubs and shower walls as well as the interior closet framing were the only things standing.
Animals- if you don't have carriers, get one or make one. We've got a carrier for the cat and dog. If the weather gets close enough and bad enough you will not be able to find your cat, and when you do they will not willingly come out. Many people have gotten thrown by a tornado over cats and dogs. Best thing you can do is put them in a carrier beforehand because they'll know it's nearby before you will.
NOAA takes their most reliable reports from storm chasers- look up your local skywarn net, tune in if you can.
If the wind starts to howl in a way you've never heard before, not the straight line wind that blows through the woods up north but this eerily still howl, that isn't pushing anything like straight line wind will, that's circulation and it's best to take cover out of prudence. Hope that made sense. It's hard to put the sound into words but it's not a sound like yall get from a strong northerner, it sounds different and once you've heard it you won't forget it
Rancid_Triceratops@reddit (OP)
Oh I know the odds are low of my specific house being hit by a tornado, I just have such a weird layout where I don’t know the answer to what the best place in my specific home would be to go hangout during a warning. My next home I’m going to make sure has a basement and will have a bed so I can just sleep down there whenever this nonsense happens 😂
PrisonerV@reddit
Stairwell in basement?
Rancid_Triceratops@reddit (OP)
It’s a three level split each stairwell consists of like 5 steps. our “basement” is just part of the livable area of the house—a living room with two regular sized windows, a bedroom with a door to the outside, then a bathroom with utilities that also has a window, no tub or anything
Khakikadet@reddit
I think the time to research this is not 24 hours before storms, but I'd reckon the bedroom closet is your safest bet. Everyone and their mother recommends a NOAA weather radio (\~$40) that will alert you of the need to shelter.
livestrong2109@reddit
Lol so true... I was reading the post title and rolling my eyes as thunder claps outside. Could be worse. He could be a mile in the air and posting this.
Rancid_Triceratops@reddit (OP)
Yeesh I’m not new to tornados I just have a weirdly laid out house right now compared to the homes I grew up in that had fully underground basements without full windows and doors to the outside
livestrong2109@reddit
I'm just giving you a hard time based on the timing. It's natural to reassess when in a situation that storms might be rolling in. Hopefully, you've got a plan in place for the next one. Place for pets, you, some where to go if you're messed up. A plan for family to come to you if they're messed up ect...
CatsAreMajorAssholes@reddit
Get to the lowest level, the most centrally located area.
Also, get yourself a ham radio, get to know how to use it (don't transmit unless you have your license), and get to know the local freq's. If you are trapped by debris in your house you will be able to call for help (cellphones will not work).
EverVigilant1@reddit
I am also in the midwest.
In your situation, go to the bathroom/utility room. Get into the tub and cover yourself with a mattress or blankets.
If you can't do that, go to the bedroom, shut the door, get close to an inside wall, get on the floor in prone or fetal position, and pull a mattress or blankets over yourself and the animals.